Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Favorite Quick Seitan Recipe



I have come to loathe making seitan because one attempt will turn out beautiful, the next all bloated and mushy. There's no consistency and dependability in the recipes I've tried using (namely the Veganomicon and VwaV recipes). So god(dess) bless Terry Hope Romero for her steamed white seitan recipe. Finally a seitan recipe that has thus far been fail-proof. The consistency is perfect--dense and chewy. It makes a bunch. And it only takes about 15 minutes to put together and 30 minutes to steam, compared to the hour+ for most boiled recipes. It's seriously great.

I *DO* season it differently, however, and the below recipe has been adjusted to include my seasonings (it's a very minimal change, poultry seasoning instead of curry powder)--what it yields will taste a bit more chickeny.

INGREDIENTS:
  • 1.5 c. vegetable broth (or chicken flavoured broth)--I also add a dash of soy sauce

  • 4 garlic cloves (grated)

  • 2 T. olive oil

  • 1.5 c. vital wheat gluten

  • 1/4 c. chickpea flour (you can also sub in all-purpose, but the chickpea's definitely more flavorful)

  • 1/4 c. nutritional yeast

  • 1 t. dried thyme

  • 1/2 t. paprika

  • 1/2 t. poultry seasoning

  • 1 teaspoon salt (to taste)

DIRECTIONS

In a jug whisk together broth, garlic, olive oil. In a large bowl combine wheta gluten, chickpea flour, nutritional yeast, thyme, paprika, poultry seasoning, and salt. Form a well in centre of dry ingredients and stir well with rubber spatula until dough leaves side of the bowl.

Knead for 2-3 mins to develop gluten. I cheat at this stage and use the Kenwood chef to do the kneading on power 1 or 2.

Leave dough to rest for 10 min, knead again for 30 seconds.

Place dough on cutting board and cut into 4 equal pieces.

Tear off 4 X12 inch pieces of foil and place piece of dough in centre of foil, fold the short sides of the foil over the loaf, the fold over the ends the foil should be secure but loose allowing for it to expand. Place in steamer basket and steam for 30 minutes Allow the dough to cool to the touch before chilling in fridge or overnight.

Store seitan in the fridge tightly sealed in a plastic bag for up to 2 weeks or freeze, defrost before use.

(Recipe from Viva Vegan, reposted at Food.com)

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Interactive Post! I Ask! You Answer!

Because my brain is made of molasses (mmmmm molasses brains, arghlghlhglghlhglhgl), I only just realized that Thanksgiving is NEXT FRICKING THURSDAY. Holy pilgrims and indians.

So riddle me this, batmen and batwomen:

What are your tried and true and favoritest vegan...

a) stuffing recipes?

b) apple pie recipes (extra points for caramel apple pie recipes or the ones that have the super-delicious crumbly tops)?

c) pumpkin pie recipes?

Extra points for links!

And now, a bit of Thanksgiving creepiness for young and old! Happy early Thanksgiving!

Saturday, November 05, 2011

Super-Adorable Animal Ornaments That You Want for Your Tree, Oh Yes

Fellow animal lovers, I just wanted to take a moment to give a shout-out to one of my lovely vegetarian friends who recently started her own fantastic line of polymer clay jewelry and ornaments on Etsy.

Why am I telling you this? Well, because Christmas is right around the corner, and she has some super adorable animal ornaments for sale. (I mean, come on, how adorable is THIS?!?!)



So go check her out. Do it. Now.


Sunday, October 30, 2011

This Year's Halloween Costume...

Oh the sweet vegan irony...

Sunday, October 02, 2011

Soup Season, I Want to Snog Your Face Off!!!



Right now, I have some sort of bastardy cold-slash-sinus-infection-slash-allergy thing going on, courtesy of the sudden chilly weather. And yet, I still blissfully proclaim: I LOVE YOU, FALL! Hoodies and crunchy leaves and autumn clouds and snuggling with the cats under mounds of blankets and stumbling across a bit of romance and car rides through the metroparks and Halloween and zombie flicks and soup soup and more soup. How can you not love fall?

So, to ring in these first few days of chilly, keep-your-windows-closed-and-snuggle-up-under-blankets-while-reading-The-Exorcist-and-watching-horror-movies weather, I whipped up the Ceci-Roasted Red Pepper Soup from Appetite for Reduction. It is beautifully autumnal in color and will fill your house with the delicious warming aroma of roasting red peppers. The flavors will also definitely please; it's a very aromatic recipe, despite the rather simple assortment of ingredients. And it makes for a fantastic soup for dipping bread. My only complaint is that I find rosemary and/or thyme in soup to be a slightly misguided choice. I love the flavor, but I absolutely hate picking tiny pieces of woody spices out of my teeth, especially in an otherwise velvety soup. I even tried chopping up the rosemary, but still: a bit too woody.

Nonetheless, it's a good recipe and an easy one, and it will definitely bring a smile to your autumnal pallet. Unfortunately no one has posted the recipe online quite yet, so for now, you'll have to track down the cookbook to try it out. But I promise you, it's worth spending the $10/$15 bucks on it. Promise.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Tortilla Soup!



Soup makes for pretty much the most boring photos ever, so I've added a nice rack for your viewing pleasure.

As for the soup itself, damn damn damn good. And super duper easy. Definitely don't skimp on the lime juice 'cause it adds a little bit of extra loveliness to it. Definitely has me excited for soup weather, that is for sure. And thanks to Jilly Bean for the recipe recommendation!


INGREDIENTS:
  • 1 t. olive oil

  • 1 small onion, sliced thinly

  • 2 jalapeños, seeded and sliced thinly

  • 1 poblano pepper or green bell pepper, seeded, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces

  • 4 cloves garlic, minced

  • 1/4 t. red pepper flakes, optional

  • 1 t. salt

  • 1 (24-ounce) can whole tomatoes, undrained

  • 1 (24-ounce) can vegetable broth

  • 1 T. ground cumin

  • 4 ounces gluten-free baked tortilla chips (about 2 cups), divided (or just regular old tortilla chips)

  • 1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

  • 1 c. frozen corn

  • 1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro, plus extra for garnish

  • Juice from 1 lime

  • Salt, to taste

DIRECTIONS

Place oil in a 4-quart pot and sauté onions, jalapeños and poblano pepper over medium-high heat until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. (Add a little more oil or broth if needed.) Add garlic, red pepper flakes and salt and sauté for another minute.

Break up tomatoes with your fingers and add them to the pot, including the juice. Fill the tomato can with vegetable broth and add to the pot. Stir in the cumin.

Crush half the chips into crumbs (some bigger pieces are okay) and add to the pot. Cover and bring soup to a boil. Then lower heat to a simmer.

Add beans, corn and cilantro and let simmer for 5 more minutes. Add lime juice. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding salt to taste.

Ladle soup into serving bowls. Crumble remaining tortilla chips over the top and garnish with cilantro.

(Recipe originally from Appetite for Reduction, reposted at Living Without)

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Squeeze Those Tomatoes

You like summer, don't you? And you like plump, juicy tomatoes, right? Then try out this recipe, now that fresh tomatoes are everywhere. The delightful dance of tomatoes and orange juice will put a grin on your face for sure. Plus, the recipe's quick and easy and won't disappoint, just like your mom.



The Recipe (Rerun)

Monday, July 04, 2011

Vegan Cookout Love

I just have to send a shout-out to all my fucking awesome friends and family members who are always so conscientious about veganizing the SHIT out of cookouts. You guys all rock. Seriously.

Cookout #1:

My friends Mo, Duvi, and Natalie Portman...



The menu: Veggie dogs, veggie burgers, chips & salsa, pesto pasta salad, chickpea salad, no-cook corn on the cob, and rice krispy treats, none of which are pictured here 'CAUSE WE DONE ATE THEM.



Cookout #2:

My family...






The menu: Veggie dogs, veggie burgers, pesto pasta salad, chickpea salad, fruit salad, salsa-pizza, rice krispy treats.



And finally...

Cookout #3:

At the KS family household...






The menu: Veggie dogs & veggie burgers (courtesy of the KS's), pesto pasta salad, avocado-corn salad (courtesy of my LLP), caprese salad (courtesy of the Jilly Bean), rice krispy treats, banana-dessert-cake stuff + buckeye bars + oreo chocolate (all courtesy of the KS's), peanut butter cookies (courtesy of my LLP).

I seriously am blessed.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Favorite Summer Quickie...

Not counting that of the wink-wink nudge-nudge variety:


Lightly fried tofu, fresh tomatoes, fresh basil, slathered
in pesto-mayo and stacked atop ciabatta.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Grub I Done Cooked for Another

Sexy kalamata & sundried tomato tapenade on a whole-wheat baguette. Fettucine with edamame pesto, heaped with roasted asparagus and zucchini, a mix of mushrooms, and shallots. Accompanied by a side of roasted brussel sprouts.


What I learned: the best part of the meal was when the brussel sprouts accidentally got mixed in with the pasta, so next time I make this, it's gonna be roasted zucchini, mushrooms, shallots, and roasted brussel sprouts. So so good.

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Sexy Kalamata & Sundried Tomato Tapenade

This tapenade was having-a-dude-go-down-on-you-without-expecting-you-to-reciprocate good. In other words, IT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND. (And you won't have to blow anything in return. ;)



INGREDIENTS:
  • 1 ¼ c. pitted kalamata olives (I also added some big fat green ones and some other greek black ones in as well)

  • 9-10 oil-packed sundried tomatoes

  • 2 T. capers

  • 4 cloves garlic

  • Handful of parsley

  • 1/2 T. balsamic vinegar

  • 1/2 T. oil from your oil-packed sundried tomatoes

  • Freshly-ground black pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

Blend that shit. Blend it real hard. Oh just like that. Yes yes yes.

Spread on a toasted baguette. Spread it. Mmmmm.

Makes enough for an entire baguette and then some.

(Recipe © Yeah That "Vegan" Shit)

Monday, June 13, 2011

I Got Interviewed on VeganSaurus!

Go check 'em out if you haven't already!


VEGANSAURUS!


'LIKE' them! Love them! And then take off in the morning before they wake up!

My Foccacia is Poofy

So I tried making foccacia last night using the recipe from Veganomicon. I would've thought it would be more difficult to mess it up than it would be to make it correctly, and yet: my foccacia turned out poofy.



Granted, it tastes really good. But it tastes like bread and not foccacia.

What did I do wrong? Too much kneading? Too little kneading? Too much water? Too little water?

Any thoughts about my poofy foccacia would be appreciated.

Also, is it just me, or does "poofy foccacia" not sound like a brilliant euphemism for lady nethers? Just sayin'.

Wednesday, June 08, 2011

What to Eat If You Never Want Anyone to Make Out With You Ever Again



On the weekend, my friend Peppermint came over for a LLP night, and we cooked. I've been wanting to try the Appetite for Reduction onion rings for a while, so she brought over some homemade veggie burgers to accompany them. To make matters worse for our breath, we added caramelized onions to the burgers as well, making it one hell of a stank dinner. However, both of us had to admit, the onion rings were really quite good. I used corn-flake "bread" crumbs instead of wheat, and the breading ended up kind of messy, but the one hand per bowl technique seems like a myth anyways since, as soon as you dip into the breadcrumbs, you end up clumping that shit up. Either which way though: oh man are they delish. And super easy. I'd definitely make them again. Even if that means not making out with anyone for a week as a result.


OMG Oven Baked Onion Rings

INGREDIENTS:
  • 2 vidalia onions (about a pound), or other sweet onion like Walla Walla

  • 1/2 c. plus 2 T. all purpose flour

  • 2 T. corn starch

  • 1 c. cold almond milk (I used soy milk)

  • 1 t. apple cider vinegar

  • 1 c. whole wheat bread crumbs (I used corn-flake "bread" crumbs)

  • 1 t. kosher salt

  • 2 t. olive oil

  • Cooking spray


DIRECTIONS

Slice onions into 3/4 inch thick rings. Separate the rings and place in a bowl. Cover with a kitchen towel or something, to keep the onioniness out of your eyes.

Preheat oven to 450 F. Line a rimmed 12×18 baking sheet with parchment paper, spray with cooking spray and set aside.

Now you’ll need two bowls for batter and breading. If you’ve got large, wide cereal bowls that’ll do the trick. In one bowl, dump in the flour and cornstarch. Add about half of the almond milk and stir vigorously with a fork to dissolve. Add the rest of the almond milk and the apple cider vinegar, and stir to incorporate. Set aside.

In the other bowl, mix together the bread crumbs and salt. Drizzle in the oil and use your fingertips to mix it up well.

Assemble the onion rings:

Get a conveyor belt going. From left to right, have the onions, the flour mixture, the breadcrumbs mixture and lastly the baking sheet. Dip each onion slice into the the flour, letting the excess drip off. Transfer to the breadcrumbs bowl and use the other hand to sprinkle a handful of breadcrumbs over the onion, to coat completely. This may take a bit of practice. Carefully transfer each onion to a single layer on the baking sheet. Make sure you use one hand for the wet batter and the other for the dry batter, or you’ll end up with club hand.

Spray rings lightly with cooking spray and bake for 8 minutes. Flip, and bake another 6 minutes. Rings should be varying shades of brown and crisp. Taste one to check for doneness. Serve as soon as possible. With ketchup if you must.

Note from cookbook: Coupla things. You have to use sweet onions for this, like vidalia or walla walla. Otherwise the taste won’t be as special and the texture won’t be as juicy. Also, if things go as planned, you’re not going to use all of the onions or all of the coating. Just use the nice big rings and use the tiny inside rings for something else. For the batter and coating, you need a lot to get everything breaded, but there will be a bunch left over. Them’s the breaks.

(Recipe from Appetite for Reduction, reposted at Go Dairy Free)



WHAT YOU SHOULD SERVE IF YOU WANT TO BE ABLE TO GET SOMEONE DRUNK ENOUGH THAT THEY WON'T NOTICE ALL THE ONION ON YOUR BREATH:

(Ginger beer, vodka, lime juice, muddled mint)

Saturday, June 04, 2011

Caramel Bars of Ooey Gooey Goodness



Ok. So these bars are the shit. Like seriously: they are the shit. As in, I subbed in corn syrup for the brown rice syrup (because I had extra and needed an excuse to use it up) and I TOTALLY DON'T FEEL BAD ABOUT IT 'cause even though I may end up in hell, being thwacked by a sweaty, whip-wielding Michael Pollan, IT WAS TOTALLY WORTH IT. That's how good they are. Use brown rice syrup when you make them, just so you don't end up blaspheming like me. (But if you DO end up using corn syrup, I seriously think even God will forgive you because FOR THE LOVE OF GOD THEY'RE SO GODDAMN GOOD.) Just sayin'.

INGREDIENTS:

    Crust

  • 2 c. all-purpose flour

  • 1/3 c. dark brown sugar

  • ¼ t. ground cinnamon

  • ¼ t. baking powder

  • Large pinch of salt

  • ¾ c. non-hydrogenated margarine, slightly softened


  • Topping

  • 3 T. cornstarch

  • 1/3 c. non-dairy milk (soy, rice, almond, etc.)

  • 1½ c. dark brown sugar

  • 1/3 c. brown rice syrup

  • 2 T. melted non hydrogenated margarine

  • 2 t. pure vanilla extract

  • ¼ t. salt

  • 2 c. coarsely chopped pecans


DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 by 13-inch baking pan with aluminium foil, making sure the foil completely covers the sides of the pan, with about 2 inches folded outside over the edges. Spray the bottom and sides of the pan generously with non-stick cooking spray

In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. Use a pastry cutter or two knives held together to cut in the margarine until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Pour crumbs into the prepared baking pan and press down evenly and very firmly, making sure to press the mixture all the way to the edges of the pan.

Bake the crust for 8 to 10 minutes until very firm and very lightly browned. Remove the pan from the oven and set it aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and non-dairy milk until foamy. Stir in the dark brown sugar, brown rice syrup, melted margarine, vanilla and salt, until smooth. Fold in the pecans and pour the mixture onto the crust, using a spatula to spread the topping evenly.

Return the pan to the oven and bake for 28 to 30 minutes, or until the filling is rapidly bubbling. Place the pain on a wire rack to cool for 20 minutes; then move it to the refrigerator to finish cooling and setting. Chill for at least two hours, or, even better, overnight.

To slide completely cooled bars, grab hold of the foil and carefully lift the whole thing out of the pan and onto a heavy cutting board.

Peel away the foil and cut bars with a heavy, sharp knife.

(Recipe from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, reposted at Vegan Gourmet Caravan)

Thursday, June 02, 2011

Suelo Part Deux

Yesterday, Suelo rescued a flea-ridden, eye-infected kitten from a park and then drove around until he found a shelter that would take it. He followed THAT up by spontaneously cooking us a three-part meal that included

delectably decadent and creamy sage and butternut squash soup:



spicy curried cauliflower, and a roasted lettuce salad in a creamy red-wine and pine nut sauce:



all of which rocked.

You may now slather him with praise.



Sunday, May 15, 2011

Suelo, Con Suelo

So for the past few weeks, a very kindly gentleman I know has apparently been testing out various tofus and fake-meats so that he could cook me dinner one night. And last night (with a tie rod unfortunately to blame), he finally decided to put the knowledge he acquired to work.

(Sidenote: All names have been changed so as to maintain the anonymity of those being written about (however, the pictures have not). Thusly, the aforementioned gentleman asked that I refer to him as either Rick Friction, Reynaldo Fernandez, or Rick Rudely when I talk about him in my blog, but because it's MY BLOG AND NO ONE IS THE BOSS OF ME (but mostly because I think my nickname's funny), I am of course going to refer to him as none of the above and introduce him instead as
Suelo... Con Suelo...
A tip of the hat to you my suave bearded friend...)

In this pic, Suelo is stabbing his pasta with a wooden spoon for reasons unknown:




Anyways, last night Suelo spent several hours slaving over the stove to cook us dinner while we chatted, drank, wrestled with his dog, and conversed about poop.

The first course of dinner was a seriously awesome bruschetta--a sunflower-seedesque bread layered in a series of freshly roasted red pepper, thinly sliced tofu (subbing for fresh mozzarella), tomato, and a single leaf of basil, brushed with olive oil and drizzled in a tangy but throaty balsamic vinegar. This shit was GOOD. Like the kind of good where you say, I couldn't possibly eat another slice, but then you shove a bunch more in your mouth 'cause you really can't bear to imagine it making its way into someone else's stomach.




Second course: a minted asparagus and cannelini salad. Although Suelo was not overjoyed by this salad, I enjoyed it quite a bit myself, primarily because of the mint. Which is precisely why Suelo disliked it. TO EACH THEIR OWN. Nonetheless: Steamed asparagus tossed with cannelini beans, chunks of raw tofu, and the sassy bite of radishes, all drizzled in a startling lemony-mint dressing is the type of salad I can definitely get behind. The combination was cool with a bit of a radishy kick and would make for a fantastic summer treat.




The final course: an insanely huge pot of super delicious pasta, a recipe Suelo has apparently perfected over the years and recently veganized for himself and yours truly, with an ingredient list huger than any I'd ever seen before. Mushrooms and boca crumbles and fried tofu chunks and spinach and noodles and roasted red peppers and (sweet christ) I can't even remember half of it but also sugar peas and Daiya cheese and onions and garlic and zucchini and broccoli and cauliflower and jalapenos and some other penos in a rich tomatoey broth so good it was worthy of being eaten off of god's butthole.






So yes: Suelo can cook. And he can cook vegan. And I think that rocks. So: thanks again, Suelo.

(Suelo can also kick my ass at a plethora of games. But that's a whole 'nother story.)

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Omg

This is seriously the funniest fucking thing I've seen in a long while:



Dear sir, you are the best.

Thursday, May 05, 2011

Carrot Cake Cupcakes, A Picture Tour



Yesterday my friend Duvi and I




baked vegan carrot cake cupcakes for the celebration of the birth of this fine gentleman (who is looking very pleased in this pic, quite possibly because he's SURROUNDED BY SOME OF THE FINEST, MOST DELICIOUS WOMEN IN CLEVELAND--just sayin'):




We grated and spooned...




and baked and frosted...




And sweat our asses off with our efforts.

And the end result was these little beauties:




Which were taken to a very drunken karaoke night. The cupcakes impressed many, especially when folks found out they were vegan. The birthday boy had at least three, and one of his friends very sheepishly but voraciously also came back for thirds.

Eaters of the cupcakes:





In total, 11 were consumed and the twelfth actually knocked my friend Duvi over in her chair, SPLITTING THE BACK OF THE CHAIR IN TWO.

Broken chair:




Them's some fucking POWERFUL cupcakes is what I'm saying.

Try them. Just buckle yourself in first.




Carrot Cake Cupcakes

INGREDIENTS:
  • 2/3 c. all-purpose flour

  • 3/4 t. baking soda

  • 1/4 t. baking powder

  • 1/4 t. pinch of salt

  • 1/4 t. ground cinnamon

  • 1/4 t. ground ginger

  • 2/3 c. sugar

  • 1/3 c. vegetable oil

  • 1/3 c. soy yogurt (plain or vanilla)

  • 1 t. vanilla

  • 1 c. finely grated carrots

  • 1/4 c. of chopped walnuts

  • 1/4 c. raisins

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350°. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners (preferably the kickass ones you found at Heinen that have piratey skulls & crossbones all over them).

In a medium mixing bowl, mix together sugar, vegetable oil, yogurt, and vanilla. Sift in the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and spices) and mix until smooth. Fold in carrots , walnuts, and raisins.

Spray the cupcake liners with nonstick baking spray. Fill the liners two-thirds full (don’t overfill! See photos above). Bake for 26 to 28 minutes (for full size) or 20 minutes (for mini), until a toothpick inserted through the center of one comes out clean.

Once fully cooled, top generously with cream cheese frosting.



Cream Cheese Frosting

INGREDIENTS:
  • 1/4 c. margarine, softened

  • 1/4 c. vegan cream cheese, softened

  • 2 c. confectioners sugar

  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS

Cream together margarine and cream cheese until just combined. Use a handheld mixer to whip while adding the confectioners sugar in 1/2 cup batches. Mix until smooth and creamy, then mix in vanilla. Keep tightly covered and refrigerated until ready to use.

(Recipes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World: 75 Dairy-Free Recipes for Cupcakes that Rule, reposted at Simply Sifted)

Thursday, April 28, 2011

First Pesto of the Season



I love me some pesto. Short of avocado--which is the sexiest beast alive when it comes to food--pesto is one of my very favorite foods of all time. Needless to say, I love basil season. And although we're not quite there yet, in excitement and preparation, I decided to try the Appetite for Reduction edamame pesto.

I've fiddled with many different pesto variations over the years. And I love edamame, so I figured it'd be an easy success. And it was. Not only is it much cheaper than most homemade pestos (this required less basil than most, and edamame is cheap as hell if you go to the right place to buy it, especially in comparison to pine nuts which are INSANELY expensive right now or even walnuts) but it also has a lightness and brightness to its flavor that sings of spring and summer and sunshine and gardens. It was really damn good is what I'm saying. So much so that I can't wait to bust it out in the summer knowing that it'll also definitely make my basil stretch further (1 cup of basil yields about the same amount of pesto in this recipe as 3 cups does in most standard pesto recipes). And it's way healthier too, of course.

So yes, for those of you bumping about in Appetite for Reduction cookbook trying to figure out what to cook next: this should definitely be at the top of your list.



INGREDIENTS:
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped

  • 1 cup packed basil leaves

  • 14 oz package shelled edamame, thawed

  • 1/2 cup vegetable broth

  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

  • 1 teaspoon olive oil

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • optional: 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

DIRECTIONS

Place garlic and basil in food processor and pulse a few times to get it chopped up. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until relatively smooth, scraping down the sides with a spatula to make sure you get everything. Add a little more vegetable broth if it seems too stiff. Set aside until ready to use.

(from Appetite for Reduction, reposted at The PPK)

First Cookout of the Year

First cookout of the year involved:

  • Veggie and sausage kabobs

  • Strawberry and asparagus salad

  • Slightly undercooked grilled corn on the cob


  • My damn gas tank running out before we made it through the cooking of the last kabob

  • These two lovely ladies:


  • Tofutti Drumsticks (holy hell, I didn't even realize they had these!!); and


  • The shooting of zombies:


Wednesday, April 20, 2011

This Just in from El Biblioteca:



And now you will tell me your favoritest favorite Appetite for Reduction recipes and also the ones I shouldn't touch with a 15.5-meter pole.

Annnnnnnnnnd go!

Sunday, April 17, 2011

May Your Mouth Writhe with Glorious Tastebud Boners from Checking Out This Food Porn

From Sweet Melissa...



Spinach Salad with busty artichokes, plump sun-dried tomatoes, juicy olives, and sweaty (pine) nuts in a maple vinaigrette that just makes you wanna drizzle it all over your naked body (except for the horrible stickiness factor which is making my mind freak out right now):




Sweet potato fries with a length and girth perfect for inserting into your mouth:





Chocolate peanut butter torte that will ride you until you're exhausted and your heart's all rapid-fire and you think you might lose control of every muscle in your body and wet yourself with joy (it really IS that good):





And last but not least, the ladies that made this food porn possible...