Snickers.....& Doodles!!!

Thanks for the understanding peeps!!

In appreciation for how wonderful several of my neighbors are, I made a huge batch of Snicker doodles to share!! These are such a classic cookie that I have yet to meet a person who does not enjoy them.

One of my neighbors is kind enough to take our garbage to the dumpster(we call her the garbage fairy), and the other older couple who lives across the hall never cease to make us laugh about something. The couple across the hall have medical issues, so I can't bake too many goodies to take to them.


It is just the classic recipe with no new twists.....as of yet! I have pics, but the batteries died in my camera so I will post soon.

Announcement

Upon a very lengthy soul-searching journey, I have come to the conclusion that I will no longer be able to be a part of the Vegan society. My apologies to the lovely Vegans that have read my blog and the wonderful comments that you have all been leaving. I will still be making lots of Vegan recipes as well as vegetarian now. Which I will clearly label as vegan or vegetarian.



I will NEVER return to a life of meat eating. That is one thing I will never, ever encourage in anyone that crosses my path. However, the way that things are right now in my life, I am unable to to get the proper nutrients or grocery supplies needed to make a full Vegan commitment.


I am not one for making excuses, so I won't. There are very good reasons for which I have made my choice, and most people who know me will know why I cannot make a full commitment right now. I have enjoyed veganism and I enjoy challenges, but there are just some things health related(which are personnel to me) which I am unable to change. Which is what I am having to learn.

Coming Soon!!! Changes

I am in the process of changing some things, which I will post soon.

I Like to 'Y'am it Up!

Of course being from the south, I do enjoy my yams/sweet potatoes. I like them baked, broiled, mashed, roasted. Pretty much anyway I can get them. Joey is not enamored of these delicious darlings at all, so I am on my own when I prepare them.

Most people use nasty marshmallows, but I have NEVER liked marshmallows at all. My favorite way is pictured below: Pineapple-baked sweet potatoes. There is really no point in writing the recipe, seeing as it's only the potatoes mashed with brown sugar, pineapple, cinnamon and margarine. But so yummy!!

After all the Chaos

We finally managed to get away from everything for a thrift store break the other day, and as all of my dinner plates have either been chipped, scratched or stained, I am trying to refill the cabinet with pre-owned dishes.

I am sorry, but I am not of the school that all of your dishes must match. I say screw that, and be yourself! So I was delighted to find this blue sunflower(I think...lol) plate that is nice and heavy and is so cute.

Pictured below it is a little dessert plate, which is very familiar to the multicolored flower plate which I posted several weeks ago. Same company just a different design.

Apple Pie

As a child of 3-4 I absolutely adored my Papa's homemade apple pie. To this day I still remember the incredible way his house would smell after a day of baking. And I cannot find a taste to rival his. Not that I honestly think I ever will. But I figured I would try to come as close as possible. I felt like a kid playing with the pie dough, and had so much fun making this.

Now I know it is not a picture perfect pie, especially since I had to pull a Frankenstein on part of the upper crust, but it was still tasty. Though not Papa's!! Pictured is the pie, then below it is the inside. It was just your basic southern apple pie recipe, just with vegan margarine.

Absence Apology

So sorry for the absence, though I really have not had the time to even remember what day it is for the past two weeks now. I have some photos and recipes to post, when I can find my camera....lol My sister-in-law's(who is one of my best friends) father went in the hospital two weeks ago, he had progressed cancer and passed away Sunday a week and a half ago. Her family resides in Greenwood, MS and our little Saturn just would not make the trip so we had to rent a car. As soon as Joey walked in the door with the keys his mom called to tell us she was on the way to her doctor with chest pains. We get ready and are walking out the door to head to Greenwood to tell us that she was being put in the hospital.

This was at 3:00 pm. We flew down to the viewing to support my in-laws, and arrived back at the house at 10:30 pm the same night, Joey called to check on her as soon as we walked in the door. She was panicking and could not calm down, I ended turning around and going to the hospital withe her all night long. Arrived at 11:00 pm and left at 11:00 am. What a night!! They released her that afternoon with the diagnosis been a minor heart attack, but unfortunately the nurse on duty that evening had a horrid cold and passed it to me. She was doing okay until this Monday night when we thought she was having another heart attack but thankfully was just anxiety. I am not bitching, just wanted to explain where I have been. Anyway, I will be posting this week so please check back.

Finally, Successful Lemon Tea Cookies

So after three tries, I finally found found success with the Lemon Tea Cookies. I know you would not believe it with all the chocolate that I bake, but I much prefer citrus desserts over chocolate in the summer. These are a little thicker than a traditional cookie, but still yummy. I think I would also recommend baking a little longer than the recipe says, depending on your oven. Pictured with the cookies is a scone, I did not like the scones, so I will have to keep on baking.

Lemon Tea Cookies

1/2 cup of vegan margarine or butter

3/4 cups of sugar

1 1/2 tsp. of lemon zest

1 tsp. of baking powder

1/4 tsp. of baking soda

1/4 cup of silken tofu, soft, whizzed with 1/2 tsp. of cornstarch

1/3 cup of soy milk

1/2 tsp. of vanilla extract

1 3/4 cup of AP flour

2 tsp. of lemon juice

1/4 cup of sugar

2 Tbs. of lemon juice

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar for about 1 minute. Add the next four ingredients and mix well. Add the milk and vanilla and mix, then slowly add the flour about a 1/4 of a cup at a time. Mix well, on a greased cookie sheet, place cookies by teaspoonful about 2 inches apart and bake for 8-10 minutes or til edges are slightly brown. Move to a cooling rack and allow to cool completely. Once the cookies are cooled, mix the remaining sugar and lemon juice together an brush on cookies. The original recipe is from the Better Homes and Garden cookbook with several mods to make it Vegan.


(Above) Yes I have been thrift shopping again. This is the exact identical twin of my favorite plate to eat off of at my Mother-in-Law's house. I love the completely 70's design.
(Above) I found the lovely strawberry plant on this one, and couldn't resist.
(Above) This lovely little dish has a nice pattern to it, but the main reason I purchased it was because I have been needing a little serving dish for small side items.(And I liked it a lot)

My prayers and thoughts are with anyone in the line of hurricane Gustav. God Bless!!!!!!!!!!

Shake Your Bon-Bon

The other day I had made a batch of Golden cupcake from Vctotw, just to find them not that golden or tasty. I hate to waste food, which had me thinking how I could salvage those cupcakes. I don't remember where I saw this from, but I think it was the Barefoot Contessa one afternoon. I made some cake bon-bons. And Damn!!! Where these tasty.

1 batch of screwed up cupcakes

1 1/2 cups of water

1 1/2 cups of sugar

18 oz of semi-sweet chocolate, chopped or I used chips

4 1/2 tbs of earth balance

rum, whiskey, or assorted extracts and nuts

toasted nuts of your choice

lots of time

Crumble the cupcakes up in one large bowl. Mix the sugar and water in a saucepan over medium heat till sugar is melted and you have created a simple syrup. Have several smaller bowls, or I just rinsed an reused mine, ready to go. Have one large cookie sheet with parchment paper right beside you. Pour about 1/2 cup of simple syrup in your small bowl(s), add about 1 tsp of your extract/liquors or both. I used lemon extract with rum/Jack Daniels/Chocolate chips. The lemon/rum ones were my favorite, followed by the Jack. Once you have the syrup and flavoring added, add about a cup to a cup and a half of your cake crumbs and mix till cake is almost soggy but holds a ball shape when you form it with your fingers. Place on cookie sheet. Continue with whatever flavors you have chosen till you are out of cake. Place in refrigerator to set. While the cake balls are setting up, melt the earth balance in a medium size saucepan on low-medium heat. Once melted add the chocolate and melt it as well. Pull cake balls out of fridge and using a spoon and fork begin dipping the balls in chocolate and replacing on sheet. Continue this process till all balls are covered, garnish as desired.

The ones I snapped a shot of are rum-lemon balls with lemon zest, Bourbon, chocolate chip with toasted almonds. These are incredibly rich!!! But so good.........
No I didn't make these in the same day! These are lemon tea cookies which I still did not like so I am trying again.

Taco Salad Anyone?

Growing up around the Memphis area, I always was crazy about Pancho's restaurants. My obsession began with the cheese dip and chips and moved on to the famous Pancho's dressing. A tangy and flavorful mix of mustard, olive oil, vinegar and oregano. Sounds so simple yet I have not been able to duplicate the taste though I have tried numerous times. I found that I could still enjoy Pancho's since going vegan, the salsa and dressing are so much better than the cheese dip ever was. We had planned on going to the downtown location, just to discover that it had closed down. We ended up at Huey's which was still good, but just did not conquer the craving. I ended up picking up some of the dressing and making a huge taco salad with beans, lettuce, tomato, onions, black olives, tofutti sour cream, tortilla chips and lots of Pancho's dressing. WOW!!!!!!! Was this good!!!!!!!!!!! Settled my craving and was so yummy!! Now I just have to get some of the salsa and some chips..........................