EB tub

Did you know that Earth Balance now comes in a gigantizoid tub? I can't find listed on the package exactly how much is in there , but I'm pretty sure it's a 20 gallon tub. (Actually, it looks like it's about five of the regular tubs.) Ken got it out of the fridge the other day and commented on how he felt like he should be using a PeeWee Herman sized butter knife.
Interesting fact: I couldn't find a picture or a clip of PeeWee Herman using the big butter knife anywhere. My internets' tubes must be clogged.


ETA: It's a freakin' 3 lb tub. I just read the lid.

seitan casserole and excavation cupcakes

I actually got the idea for this casserole from that semi-homemade hack. Except her casserole was full of turkey & chicken, mixed with some lame cream of chicken soup and topped with canned biscuits. I have a feeling that mine tastes much better than hers.



On occasion I do make a full on pot pie, which is pretty labor intensive and takes forever to bake. This little casserole took less than an hour start to finish, and turned out even better than I thought it would. I basically just cooked some vegetables (potatoes, carrots, onions, celery) in with a creamy butternut squash soup and thickened with a bit of flour, added it to a casserole dish, then topped it with a batch of homemade biscuit dough. I baked it uncovered until the biscuits were done, and voila! Xmas eve dinner. It was pretty neat to have the touch of nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger from the premade soup in there.

On Christmas day I finally tackled one of the cupcake recipes that requires excavation. You basically just cut the middle part out, fill the cuppie with yummy stuff (in this case it was cherries and sauce), add frosting, then put the cupcake "lid" back on. It wasn't very difficult, and I even managed to transport them without a mishap. Unfortunately, these cupcakes looked better than they tasted. They were okay, but not great. The cherry sauce didn't have much flavor, for some reason.
But look how cute they are!

goodies.

I'm officially tired of baking. Well, for today anyway. I made three dozen chocolate chip cookies, two dozen hazelnut cupcakes with mocha filling, and one dozen cinnamon rolls. I need to go to the gym just to work off the batter-licking calories.



Mmmm...cinnamon rolls...



I like the Hazelnut cupcake "cake" part, but the mocha filling isn't really my speed. I don't like coffee flavored things. I do enjoy the idea of piping cupcakes full of mousse, though. These turned ot really pretty, with the ganache and the hazelnut crumbles. I doubt I have to tell you which cookbook the recipe is from. One would think that my entire life revolves around cupcakes. Umm.



On a non-food note, I like this picture that Ken took of me today.



It's been between 68-75 degrees here for the past few weeks. Pretty weird for Christmas. I kind of like it.

Tomorrow is Christmas eve! Yay! I hope the Ken likes his present.

and next I have to bake my ass off.

Here is one dish worth of the gallons of stuffed shells I made for the work potluck on Tuesday. They were gone within seconds, and I'm sure no one had any idea that they were eating tofu. Ha. I told the people who asked, of course. I just figured I shouldn't announce it, or I would have had to haul most of them back home afterwards.


The chef contacted me yesterday to put in an order for pickup tommorrow. Two dozen cupcakes, two dozen cookies, and one dozen cinnamon rolls. I have a long night ahead of me in the kitchen! I better go get my ass in there and get to baking.

too busy to eat?

Well, I haven't been too busy to eat so much as too busy to cook fun things. The holiday rush at the store is keeping us on our toes, which is a great thing. But we have barely had time to do anything else! That's okay, though. We'll be back to normal in a few weeks, I'm sure.
Since we have been relying mostly on convenience-type foods for sustenance the past few weeks, I've only made a couple of dinners worth noting. The first is a fast meal, and one of our new favorites. Spinach stir-fry from Don't Have a Cow #3. I normally don't follow recipes for stir-fry because...well, I can usually figure out stir-fry on my own. And this one is very simple, but the sauce is so tasty that it reminds us of chinese restaurant food. In addition to fresh spinach, I threw in some walnuts and "chicken" strips. The rice looks yellowish because I like to cook brown rice with vegetable broth rather than water. As usual, here's the blurry photo that does no justice to the dish:


On Friday night, I made the tofu quiche from Garden of Vegan. I've made this often, and it's always great. This one is made with broccoli & onions. Sometimes I make my own pie crust, and sometimes I don't. This one is a pre-made Wholly Wholesome whole wheat crust. They're pretty inexpensive, and a real time saver.



Alright! There is some more cooking over the horizon, since I have to make a potluck dish for work on Tuesday. I'm bringing stuffed shells, which will be funny since they're stuffed with tofu. "These are great! What's in them?" Tofu. "Ew, I thought they tasted funny." Ha.

vegan crabby patties

The picture looks like these "crab" cakes have strawberries in them or something! Of course they don't, the red color is just a fake-o coloring added to the fake-o crab pieces.
These turned out really good. Not very healthy at all, but tasty in a southern-fried, hush puppy kind of way. The recipe follows the blurry picture.



Vegan Crabby Patties

1 package fake-o crab (I used May Wah brand), chopped into small pieces
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup plain soymilk
1 Tbsp brown mustard
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 stalk of celery, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 cup oil or non-hydrogenated shortening

Preheat oil or shortening to med-high heat in a skillet or frying pan.

In a medium bowl, mix together crab, onions, celery, and flour. Add soymilk and cornmeal alternately. Add spices and mustard, and mix well. The texture should be a very thick batter. If batter seems thin, add a little bit more flour.
Drop batter by the spoonful into the heated oil. Fry until brown on each side.
Cool on paper towels and then devour.