Fennel & Mustard Frittata Gratin, plus other nice things

Hi, my name is Kylie and I am addicted to cookbooks.

Scored all of these for $35 today.

Thank you, Logo’s, for your “5 dollar & under cookbook sale” that never ends.

(Yes, I am addicted. Amazon cookbook wish list is also grossly growing by the minute…)

Today was pretty rad. One of those rad days where the sun is shining, it’s not too hot and not too cold, and you roll the window down and hang your left arm out the window as you’re driving to feel the air run between your fingers. And you feel pretty badass blasting some new awesome music (ahem, Decemberists). It was so blissfully pleasant out that standing in the express line at Trader Joe’s for 20 minutes just to buy a box of Yogi ginger tea didn’t bother me at all.

So yeah, purchased the new Decemberist’s album that came out today, The King Is Dead. It’s pretty frickin’ rad. In addition to The Head and the Heart, Yeasayer live at Ancienne Belgigue.

Currently streaming Broken Social Scene live playing on YouTube from NY. I wouldn’t mind streaming live shows from my bedroom more often. This is quite nice and convenient, actually. Not to mention free.

Umm, yeah. Lots of good stuff.

Ate some pretty awesome food, too.

So awesome that I wanna tell you about all of it:

Invented a new smoothie creation consisting of…

-1 cup almond milk

-1/2 avocado

-1 frozen banana

-handful frozen blackberries

-1/2 cup carob powder

-1 chopped date

Blend that shit up and savor the goodness.

Also made some vegan gluten free waffles. Savory butternut squash gluten free waffles. Last night I premade the savory squash part (includes onions, curry powder, chutney), and incorporated it into the batter with rice flour, spelt flour, garam masala, and cayenne. Served it as a late brunch/lunch, topped with a few scoops of cottage cheese, and some left over tempeh bell pepper, sweet potato and onion stir-fry fajita mix. Topped it all off with some homemade jamaican banana jam and a bit of maple syrup. Heck yes.

Dinner? Roasted a spaghetti squash (never doing the hot water bath steam EVER again… roasting is the answer to EVERYTHING), sauteed some crimini mushrooms in a bit of ghee and dry white wine (one of the most divine smells ever created), added in some red curly kale, and cooked that for a few minutes. Then, I had a few bulbs of fennel that needed to be used so I referred to my handy-dandy collection of vegetable garden cookbooks, and made a fennel and mustard frittata/gratin. The recipe called for puff pastry, but alas, none was on hand, so I made it my own by omitting it and it was frickin’ delicious regardless. For the mustard, I used a bit of my homemade apricot bourbon mustard that I made for the holidays. And I topped it all off with a bit of lemon salt, a squeeze of a lemon, and a few sprinkles of bread crumbs. See recipe toward the end.

So I ate all of that together with some leftover savory mashed butternut squash. Then I topped the spaghetti squash with the kale and mushrooms, a few shavings of grana padano and a bit of goat cheese, and had a bit of this fennel gratin on the side. Everything was very complimentary and went perfectly together. Not to mention frickin’ delicious. And vegetarian. Perfect winter dinner if I do say so myself.

Fennel and Mustard Frittata/Gratin Bake

Serves 4

3 fennel bulbs

4 Tbsp ghee

5 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1/2 teaspoon curry powder

3 Tbsp mild grain mustard

s&p

freshly ground nutmeg (optional)

bread crumbs, for topping (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare an 8′ square pan or round baking dish of any sort you’d think would be pretty to bake it in.

Cut off the hard base of the fennel and remove any damaged parts. Cut the fennel into strips. Melt the ghee in a pan, add the fennel, cover with a lid, and cook for 12-15 minutes.

Break the eggs into a mixing bowl. Add the sour cream, and beat to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste, the curry powder and mustard, and mix well.

Arrange the fennel in the bottom of the tart, pour over the sauce, and place in the oven for 30-35 minutes.

I’ve also been enjoying this Weizen immensely with a nice slice of lemon.

Ok bye.

Amazon is my Vice & Some Nice PB Pumpkin Banana Bread

Between taking my first set of radiographs on fake patients

and molding gum paste into maxillary 2nd molars for my tooth morphology class…

(Another student made this one out of rice krispies and marzipan! GENIUS! She deserves the award for best 3D mold interpretation project!)

…I somehow seemed to manage getting in a little baking last week, in addition to splurging a bit on Amazon (I’m blaming it on my “lack-of-baking” deprivation). For some reason, the Amazon.com credit card I have been using for the past year or so is really ending up to be quite beneficial in its rewards. Since I practically spend half of my income (or lack thereof) on the site, it makes sense. The “reward points” have been adding up. So basically I ended up getting all of these books for the regular price of one! (Baked Explorations retails for $30). So I feel pretty good about it. Anyway, I finally got my hands on Viva Vegan! (vegan latin food) by Terry Hope Romero and I am looking forward to making these recipes in particular: tostones with avocado and palm ceviche, all of the plantain recipes (sweet and nutty roasted stuffed plantains, bite-size green plantain sandwiches), calabacitas, quinoa-oyster mushroom risotto, creamy potato peanut stew, creamy corn-crusted tempeh pot pie, portobello feijoada (brazilian black bean stew with portobellos), creamy potato soup with avocado, hearty pumpkin and cranberry bean stew, sancocho (vegetable, roots, and plantain soup), tropical pumpkin soup, black-eyed butternut tostadas, black bean-sweet potato tamales, beans rice and sweet plantain empanadas, horchata, crepes with un-dulce de leche and sweet plantains, fresh mango and guava bread pudin, sweet potato sweet mash, oh my gosh I could go on and on. Although I am not a huge fan of spicy (or acidic) food, the recipes she shares include almost more than half of my favorite root vegetables and fruits–lots of pumpkin, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, plantains, mangos, you get the picture. Yes. I am stoked.

And, as mentioned above, I immediately bought the new Baked Explorations dessert book because I wanted some new ingenious recipes with more jaw dropping, lustful photography by Tina Rupp (as in their first cookbook hit, Baked: New Frontiers in Baking, although, confession, I haven’t made a single thing out of it once… the eye candy alone is good enough… someday though) that inspires me to want to open a bakery immediately and create a storefront and shell out books as half as amazing as Matt and Renato. How about some pumpkin cheddar muffins, double-chocolate loaf with peanut butter cream cheese frosting, a whiskey pear tart, mississippi mud pie, and some cowboy cookies? It’s pretty much a must-have for anyone who appreciates the fine art of baking, along with food photography. It’s a drooler, that’s for sure.

Here is a cute little trailer for the book that kind of made me die a little inside the first time I saw it…

Wow. All I can say is wow.

And then, (as if I am actually able to have some leisurely reading time), I finally got around to purchasing my own copies of some Thoreau. Particularly, Walden: or, Life in the Woods and Meditations of Thoreau. Perfect autumn reads. The pictures below are where I want to be. And his words will help take me to that place of peace.

So here is what I have managed to bake lately. I totally made it up and combined three of my favorite things into one and got all crazy with the version of my favorite vegan banana bread recipe. Peanut butter. Pumpkin. Bananas. I wanted all of them, all at once. I basically pulled ideas from about four different recipes. Pumpkin bread, a peanut butter banana bread, this recipe, etc. I also made it all hippy and healthy and stuff by using spelt flour (which may make it gluten free although I’m not entirely sure?), agave for sweetener, and bit of ground flax seed. See? HEALTHY. The latest October issue of Cooking Light did a big article about banana breads and variations on the theme and their peanut butter glaze for this recipe looked irresistible. So here’s how it all came together. It didn’t turn out bad but I think I would tweak it again in the future by either adding the applesauce, more bananas, more peanut butter, or more pumpkin. I’m not sure which, but it needed more moisture or something. I couldn’t put my finger on it. Oh and we had an ant infestation over those few days and even though I had the lid on this thing over night, ants totally invaded the sides of it. I tried to save it as much as humanly possible without getting grossed out. I wasn’t about to throw this in the trash without trying it. Those damn ants. Yeah, I was pretty pissed. At least they liked it. That says something.

Vegan Peanut Butter Pumpkin Banana Bread

Bread:

3 large very ripe bananas

3/4 cup pumpkin puree

1/3 cup crunchy peanut butter

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup agave nectar

2 tablespoons molasses

2 cups spelt flour

1/4 cup ground flax seed

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

pinch of clove

pinch of ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

Glaze:

1/3 cup powdered sugar

1 tablespoon soy milk

1 tablespoon peanut butter

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.

In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas, pumpkin, and peanut butter really well. Add the agave, oil, and molasses, and whisk briskly to incorporate.

Sift in the flour, flax seed, baking soda, spices, and salt. Use a wooden spoon to mix until the wet and dry ingredients are just combined.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and bake for 45 to 50 minutes. The top should be lightly browned and a knife inserted through the center should come out clean.

Meanwhile, you can make your peanut butter glaze. Combine powdered sugar, soy milk, and peanut butter in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Drizzle glaze over bread after it is baked.

Lily likes to study, too.

And sleep.

Saw this in the girls bathroom stall several weeks ago and it resonated with me. (I always have my camera on me now because I am the “class historian” which basically means I get the lucky job of photo documentation until we graduate!)

I am super excited for an adventure I have planned for tomorrow. I am going to Farmer John’s pumpkin patch up highway 1 in Half Moon Bay to score some unique pumpkins for decorating and eating, and hopefully buy some heirloom seeds! It’s going to be awesome. And then I plan on heading to San Francisco afterward for some brunch and ice cream sampling. I plan on taking loads of pictures!

Oh yeah, and did I mention how much I love October? I LOVE OCTOBER. Seriously, I am the happiest girl alive right now just for the lovely weather and the orange tint of the afternoon sun and the crisp cold smell of autumn in the morning and pumpkin foods everywhere. IN LOOOOVE.

"Back To School Shopping"

School starts in less than 5 days.

I’ll be taking 15 units = full time to the max.

I quit my job (of 5 years) in less than 3 days.

Which means… cash flow? Non existent, pretty much.

Big changes.

But that isn’t stopping me at all from splurging on “back to school” items that will help get me through the year.

Seriously. It’s ridiculous. I need to stop. There are times when I can go a little crazy, I’ll admit, but I’m good 99.9% the rest of the time. I swear I’ve been to every office supply store in town (and out of town) just to stock up on notebooks, pens, highlighters, organizing boxes, and binders (why are these stupid pieces of plastic $10 a piece?!? it’s just PLASTIC for crying out loud… these corporations are getting away with MURDER!) and then of course I take myself to the locally owned bookstore to see all the cute supplies they have available and I end up with this:

Yes. OWL TEA.

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

Organic classic bergamot Earl Grey with fragrant Jasmine floral notes.

Yep.

And that’s not all…

A retro inspired blue diamond tea tumbler.

Doubled glass walls.

For owl tea to take with me and get me through dental hygiene school.

I needed it, really…

BlueQ, you are extremely dangerous and threatening the life of my check book.

But I love you.

They even have teas to help you be a better parent, erase your past, and live forever…

Sounds good to me.

Check out the rest of their (genius) tea collection here.

Let’s see, I also picked up the Indie Rock Coloring Book.

And Urban Outfitters taunted me with this new cupcake book.

Because I am so into making weird cupcakes.

Rosewater Champagne, Surly Temple, Lemongrass, Tandoori, Curry Cardamom, Pancakes and Bacon, Avocado and Black Pepper, Thanksgiving, and the Punkin Donut are all flavors I can’t wait to try.

I will need to bust this out for the fundraising bake sales, I know it…

And then I figured a few motivational mantra magnets would be needed to look at in my locker on a daily basis to get me through the next 2 years (and the rest of my life, for that matter) whenever I have weak moments and tend to doubt myself…

Winston Churchill.

Alexandra Stoddard.

That is all. For now.

Poached Eggs on Portobello’s with Goat Cheese

For those of you that are unaware that Sophie Dahl, previous model and daughter of Roald Dahl, has a cookbook out, and if high quality cookbooks with gorgeous, inspiring photography with simple and delicious recipes are up your alley, then you are in luck.

“Miss Dahl’s Voluptuous Delights” is seriously the bomb. I’ve had this cookbook for almost a good year now but haven’t put it to the test much. Previously it was only available through Amazon by import but apparently you can get it now with much ease through Amazon directly. Anyway, nearly every recipe has a beautiful photo that pairs along with it, and the book is divided up into the four seasons (yay! it’s more Ayurvedic than I thought!). She includes stories and musings as introductions to each season and why she loves the particular recipes and foods. There are even European and U.S. metric conversions so you don’t always have to scratch your head, look up your reference books or do the calculations. In Autumn, there is Indian Sweet Potato Pancakes, Rice Pudding cereal with Pear Puree, Buckwheat Risotto with Wild Mushrooms, Eggplant Parmigiana. For Winter, enjoy “Hangover Eggs”, Grilled Bananas with Greek yogurt and Agave, Warm Winter Root Vegetable Salad, Curried Parsnip soup, Brown rice Risotto with Pumpkin, Mascarpone, and Sage, or Roald Dahl’s Chicken Curry. Springtime Scrambled Tofu with Pesto and Spinach, Grilled Figs with Ricotta and Thyme Honey (unfortunately they’re out of season in Spring… I’m a little confused on this one), Asparagus soup, Prawn Avocado Grapefruit salad. And Summertime! Breakfast burritos, Homemade Muesli, Avocado soup, Beetroot soup, Coconut Curry with Prawns, Wild Rice Risotto. Convinced? You should be. It’s rare that I want to recreate almost every single recipe from one single book. Just talking about it inspires me to cook from it more, which is the point I guess. Anyway, the first thing I’ve made out of it thus far has been poached eggs on portobello mushrooms with goat’s cheese. So easy, simple, and delicious! Especially when I get too breaded out and am not in the mood for oatmeal or toast. It’s a nice and light breakfast that is quite satisfying. I also added some mixed salad greens below the mushroom like it showed in the picture although it was not required in the recipe. Mushrooms and eggs are a great pairing, especially for breakfast. Poaching eggs is my new favorite thing. All you need is a little vinegar and you’ve got the best egg under the sun. Try it out for yourself.

Poached Eggs on Portobello Mushrooms with Goat’s Cheese

from Miss Dahl’s Voluptuous Delights

Serves 2

2 generously sized portobello mushrooms

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

2 thick rounds of soft goat’s cheese

2 eggs

1 teaspoon of white vinegar for poaching

1 sprig of fresh tarragon (I used thyme)

baby spring mix (optional)

Preheat the grill (I used a George Foreman grill because it’s so easy). Wash the mushrooms and remove the stalks, season with salt and pepper and give them a glug of olive oil; a spoonful should do. Crumble the goat’s cheese.

Pop the mushroom stalk-side up under the grill for about 5 minutes (or just press your grill cover down). While they are searing away, poach the eggs in a pan of gently boiling water (a teaspoon of white vinegar should stop them separating).

You can do one of two things with the goat’s cheese: you can add it on top of the mushrooms when you put them under the grill, so it browns, or you can put it on just after they come out.

You should poach the eggs for about 3 minutes if you want them soft in the middle (5 if you want them stern and unyielding). Drain them, put them on top of your crumbly goat’s cheese/mushroom mix, scatter some chopped tarragon or thyme on the top, grind on a bit of pepper, and voila!

Speaking of other great new and beautiful cookbooks out there in the world emphasizing seasonal eating, I recently purchased “Earth to Table: Seasonal Recipes from an Organic Farm” that includes essays, recipes, and how-to’s about the concept of Slow Food and the importance of supporting local and organic farmers. For example, there is a write up on how to go foraging for fiddlehead ferns or morel mushrooms in the Spring, or how to compost or start an herb garden, how to can and preserve fruits and vegetables. There are certain chefs featured and interviewed from Seattle to Florida. Recipes from here include ones like Rhubarb Compote, Gnudi with Ramps, Morels & Fiddleheads (Gnudi is apparently a “naked pasta”… intriguing), Milk & Honey bread for Spring. Summer includes Watermelon Agua Frescas, Eggplant Caponata, Corn Soup, and Pickled Beets. Fall (my personal favorite, of course) inspires me to want to make every recipe–Mulled Cranberry Cider, Heirloom Beet Salad with Feta and Pumpkin Seeds, French Onion Soup, Squash, Sage, and Pancetta Pizza, Roasted Mushrooms, Sweet Potato Gnocchi, Apple & Parsnip Puree, White Truffle Risotto with Cauliflower, Mile-High Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Seed Brittle, and Roasted Autumn Fruits with Torched Sabayon. Winter recipes include a Venison Pub Pie with Chestnuts and Parsnips, Roasted Fingerling Potato Salad with Watercress and Horseradish, Rabbit Stew with Herbed Dumplings, Bread and Butter Pudding, Spiced Hot Chocolate, and Oatmeal Molasses Bread. Oh me oh my. I love books like this.

So many cookbooks, so many recipes, so little time!

My First Vegan Cookbook (and Half-Marathon!)

About a week ago, I met that awesome chick on the left hand side of that cookbook. Her name is Sarah Kramer and she is the vegan goddess of the world. No joke. How it all Vegan! is the first vegan cookbook I ever purchased, and if it weren’t for that, I probably wouldn’t be the Baking Bird I am today. Really, this cookbook changed my life. Because of her, I began making my first vegan black bean salads, sweet potato cornbread, tofu huevos rancheros, decadent chocolate cakes, tempeh chili, blueberry banana flax muffins, carob chocolate chip bars (made many, many times…), and learned that 3 tablespoons of ground flax meal or a banana can be substituted for eggs in a recipe. Kramer and her partner, Tanya Barnard, co-authored the first two cookbooks, How it all Vegan! and The Garden of Vegan. The third book, La Dolce Vegan! was solely written by Kramer herself, and it looks like that’s going to be the last one coming out for a while (I asked her if she was coming out with a new one, but she’s burnt out for a while… can’t blame her!). Kramer set out to visit a few select cities to celebrate the 10 year anniversary for How it all Vegan! and to publicize some other goodies she’s made available recently. There is Vegan a Go-Go!: Cookbook & Survival Manual for Vegans on the Road, and she came out with a super cute calendar for 2010.

I’m so glad I just so happened to glance over at a weekly newspaper the night before and was able to attend! I had no idea. It was so random. A good, small crowd showed up at the local bookshop and there were samples of food from recipes in the cookbook available for everyone to try! Sarah blogged about it at her blog, GoVegan.net!

Samples included spinach lasagna, banana bread, herbed dill scones, greek salad, and coconut cream pie! I need to make that coconut cream pie, pronto.
Sarah took our picture! There I am on the far right!

She gave a quick spiel of her life story on how she became vegan and stayed vegan, and basically opened it up to the audience to ask her any questions for the rest of the time… short and sweet!

And she was nice enough to sign not one, not two, but all three of the cookbooks. She ain’t no Rachael Ray, I can tell you that for sure. (Maybe the Rachael Ray of the vegan world, though…)

There is so much I want to say! So many possible and future blog posts! My life is very full and happy right now. I will say that I went to Monterey last weekend to participate in the Big Sur Half Marathon (my first half marathon!) and it was an incredible experience. I’m still high from it. It turned out even better than I had imagined. Woke up at 5:30AM in pitch-black freezing-ass-cold weather (even though I didn’t sleep too well) and started off near the wharf at 7. The really cool thing was that they gave out “sweats bags” where you could put your warm-up clothes in a bag, put it in a huge truck with 7,000+ other bags, and retrieve it at the end. Such a genius idea! I was so pumped and excited and started out in the very front of my corral. The weather was absolutely perfect once it warmed up, and we ran through Cannery Row, past the Aquarium, and up toward Lover’s Point right next to the ocean. I was so happy the entire time, I don’t think I’d ever felt so great in my life. I was flashing peace signs and smiles at every photographer, and not once did I ever think a negative thought about being in pain, or wishing it were over, or that it sucked. I felt bad for the people that felt like dying. I didn’t stop at all, only when I had to get water once and suck down a Gu. I will admit, the last and final mile was a little grueling, and it was great to see the finish line up ahead, but all in all, it was amazing. Finished with a time of 1 hour, 47 minutes, 47 seconds, came in #11 out of #164 girls in my age bracket (20-24), and was the 165 woman (out of about 3,070) to cross the finish line first. I didn’t get these results until the next day and I was pleasantly surprised! I had no idea. If I had finished two minutes earlier, I would have placed for my division. So crazy! Meanwhile, I happened to see a lot of people I knew from Santa Cruz (including a few Shopper’s customers) and it felt like such a small world, but in a really good way. Everyone was so congratulatory and happy. There was a big tent at the end where you could fuel up on fruit, bagels, muffins, juice, BEER, minestrone soup, you name it. I don’t think I’ve ever had a beer at 9:30 in the morning, especially after running 13.1 miles. After a few sips, I made a smarter switch to water.

Now I am so ready for more! Now I know why some people say it’s addicting and can’t wait to run more races (take Murakami, for example–I love this book so much not only because it’s about running, but it’s by my favorite author on the planet!). My sights are now set on the San Francisco Marathon. It goes through the whole city, starting at the Ferry Building, crossing the Golden Gate Bridge, even goes through Haight Street. Don’t know much as far as hills and demographics goes but I’d like to aim for the full 26.2 miles. I have until the end of next July. In the meantime, I’m going to try to join the local track club and train with them, and possibly try out the Training feature available on the NikePlus software (this technology is actually pretty darn cool–I can track my distance and time on my iPod and it automatically loads it onto this website to graph my stats and achievements. It’s like a pedometer but way better. At first I was skeptical because it wasn’t calibrating with my stride correctly, saying I was running farther or shorter than true distance, but a few laps at the track and a treadmill have helped that tremendously). Okay, enough with my talk about running. I know it doesn’t have much to do with baking, but it’s a big deal to me. So there you have it.

Pancakes for lunch at Jeffrey’s was definitely where it was at a few hours later…

While I was in Monterey, I also went to the infamous Big Sur Bakery for the first time, and although it was decorated very cute, the food wasn’t that impressive, to be honest. And it was super expensive! I scored some pictures of their lovely baked goods though! I took a pumpkin muffin to go, and it was probably one of the worst I’ve ever had. It seemed somewhat stale and didn’t taste anything like pumpkin. Oh well! Check out their cute sign though!

Bacon avocado omelet with a side green salad. Good, but way overpriced.

Also, just because I never tire of this song, the fact that they’re my favorite to listen to this time of year, and it just now came up on my Pandora playlist and always makes me so so happy… for your listening pleasure…

New Vegan Cookbooks!

So I went a little vegan cookbook crazy on Amazon.com last week and the shipment arrived today! It just so happened that Vegan Brunch came out sooner than expected, and BabyCakes came out around the same time. When it rains vegan cookbooks, it pours, I’m telling you. It POURS!!! Then one thing led to another and my cart was full. All for a really great deal! Although I would prefer to buy local and support the independent bookstores, the discounts Amazon gives are irresistible. Every now and then I have to honor the cookbook hoarder inside of me… my bookshelf is stuffed to the brim and there is no more room, but my cooking and baking days ahead will be happy and fulfilling! Hopefully now that school is almost over I’ll be able to delve into these and report back! 

Here is a sample of a few recipes I can’t wait to try:Beer-Battered Tofu, Buckwheat Waffles with Red Wine Tarragon Mushroom Gravy, Tofu Benny, Pumpkin Pancakes (duh), Peanut Butter Waffles (!), Pumpkin French Toast (!!!), Pumpkin Bran Muffins, Cashew RicottaWebsite: PPKSample Recipes: here

Just from scanning through a few pages already, it’s so cute it makes me want to puke. The photography is AMAZING. This is pretty much THE DREAM BAKERY I have envisioned for myself later on in life. Decor/style/philosophy wise. If I lived in New York, I would work there (edit: apparently there is a girl named Kylie that already works there–my twin! She’s mentioned for inventing the “brownie shake”. I guess I’ll just live vicariously through her). Basically, I’m in love.Chocolate Shortbread Scones with Caramelized Banana, Apple-Cinnamon Toastie, Mint Icebox Cake, Sweet Paradise CakeWebsite: Babycakes NYC

I actually saw this first at the bookstore and was intrigued. It’s mainly an entertaining book but it’s a really great guide to pairing foods if you need help with that. And each section has suggested seasonal menus. Some of the “menus” include: romantic dinner for two, casual meals for 4-6, holidays, appetizers, etc. There is an ABUNDANCE of great-sounding recipes in here. I can’t wait…
Braised Figs with Arugula, Lavender Tea Cookies, Pumpkin Curry, Eggplant and Caramelized Onion “Lasagna”, Chai-Spiced Almond Cookies, Beet Bundt Cake, Mushroom Pecan Burgers, Butternut Squash Risotto with Toasted Sage, Tempeh and Eggplant Pot Pies, Butternut Squash Timbales, Sweet Potato Pie, Beet and Sweet Potato PizzaBlog: Compassionate Cooks

This little mini-book is FULL of great baking recipes! It’s almost like a hybrid of a zine/cookbook with really cute drawings and illustrations on every page.Peanut Butter Fudge, Fig Neutrons, Bananacreem Pie, Cardamom Pistachio Ice Cream, Chocolate PB Ice Cream, Black Banana Cake, Figgy Carrot Loaf, Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate PuddingWebsite: Dairy Free DessertsSample Recipes: here

I haven’t received this one yet but looking inside the digital version on Amazon, I like what I see already…
Yeah, so you should all support these great vegan baking and cooking ladies and buy their fantastic cookbooks. You won’t regret it! 

Recent Flickr Favorites & Other Goodies

1. easy morning, 2. Cupcakes!, 3. |, 4. ., 5. Untitled, 6. Le petit déjeuner, 7. .8am., 8. hello, you little tiger., 9. secret ingredient, 10. Untitled, 11. This AM., 12. tomorrow, 13. In the evening…., 14. Lost, 15. Autumn nostalgia, 16. couldn’t scoop out anymore…, 17. c’est aujourd’hui.., 18. For this little girl, 19. Untitled, 20. Untitled, 21. Untitled, 22. Untitled, 23. a tray of cupcakes, 24. when it gets cloudy outside…., 25. seattle20, 26. seattle6, 27. seattle5, 28. seattle43, 29. Untitled, 30. kaukasische spezialität, 31. eva, 32. Untitled, 33. Untitled, 34. Untitled, 35. Wanting, needing…, 36. in the kitchen with…
You can tell the common theme: kittens, cupcakes, nests, birds, mugs, yummy breakfasts, trees, silhouettes. Just a few of my favorite things.

A few other great finds:
– PhotoGrazing. Similar to TasteSpotting and Food Gawker.

– These great bird prints!

– Madeleine Peyroux, my new favorite jazz singer. Why hadn’t I heard of her before?!? God, her voice is amazing! Here’s another link.

– The Cake Book and How To Cook Everything Vegetarian. I checked these out from my schools library the other day. I love testing out cookbooks instead of buying them! That way I can just photo copy the recipes I want. I plan on doing some SERIOUS cake baking these next few months until the end of summer. I’ll let you know how some of the recipes are.

– This great bakery! I wish there was one locally. I just like reading the different varieties of cupcakes they offer. There are some really great ideas and spin-offs of peanut butter and chocolate combinations. I’m going to do some experimentations.

– Maggie Mudd’s Tarmack dairy-free ice cream! Holy moley this stuff is awesome. I’d really like to try the Peanut Butter Palooka, Pumpkin, and Banana Rum Brownie. They have great flavors available.

I’ll post some recent photos from the 4th and other events in my next separate post!