Thanksgiving!

Mixing Bowl Bakery did a bunch of Thanksgiving orders this season! Thanks to loyal & new clients, I had a bunch of sweet potatoes to peel, pumpkins to puree, and tofurkey's to roast. Every dish was homemade - down to the whole pumpkins, seasoned breadcrumbs, cashew cheeze sauce, slowly roasted garbanzo beans, coconut whipped cream, and fried onions for the green bean casserole. This was the first delivery service that Mixing Bowl Bakery has offered and it was a huge success. Every dish was inspired by Grandma Lawson's thanksgiving dinners.

Hummus Trio - Roasted Red Pepper, Garlic Lemon, & Sesame

Stuffing with Leeks, Mushrooms, & Homemade Tempeh Sausage

Macaroni & Cashew Cheese mixed with Cheddar Daiya & topped with Homemade Seasoned Breadcrumbs

Green Bean Casserole with Homemade Baby Bella Gravy & Homemade Fried Onions

Maple Sweetened Sweet Potatoes with Maple & Brown Sugar Topping

Seitan Tofurky Roast filled with Stuffing & topped with Homemade Mushroom & Onion Gravy

Pumpkin Cheesecake in a Homemade Gingersnap Crust topped with Coconut Whipped Cream

I made a couple of these dishes for my family's thanksgiving...and I have to go eat the leftovers now.

My Quest with Vegan with a Vengeance

As I mentioned in the last post, I'm reading Julie & Julia...yep...still a little embarrassed, but whateves, it inspired this new project. I get TONS of vegan cookbooks...my family has this habit of latching onto a single interest that they know you have and buying you every possible gift that could be related to it for your every birthday and Christmas. Exhibit A: being a Japanese Studies major and MENTIONING that you tend to OCCASIONALLY SEMI-like hello kitty. Who has a hello kitty toaster & waffle iron? This girl. So, needless to say, I have a lot of vegan cookbooks...unfortunately, thanks to the internet, I rarely use them. Lately, I've been really getting into cookbooks and not so much diggin' the internet recipes. I've decided to pick one cookbook each month, tab the recipes I want to make out of it, and blog about it. My first month has to be Vegan with a Vengeance. A staple that I've barely explored. For some reason my copy has detached binding, hello kitty post it notes all over it (see?!), and food mucked all over it. So, I've used it a little bit, but only for a handful of those recipes I make over and over. Really, I haven't even scratched the surface, but now I'm gonna really get in there and see all this vengeance everyone is talkin' 'bout. Lucky lucky Adrienne got to eat lunch with Isa!!

First, I made the Fauxstess cupcakes. Anyone else pass by this recipe, really want to make it, notice the 4 step process, close the book, and eat a little debby in defiance? Welp, that was me, until now! I decided to whip these little pain in the asses up for one of the best vegans I know. Evan's birthday was this past Saturday and I had to make her something special. They turned out amazing. This recipe really worried me...Isa told me to use electric beaters to make the batter...???!!!!...rule NUMBER 1 in vegan baking - NEVER over mix the batter...but I JUST DID IT. I was also worried about the fluffy vanilla icing for the filling. I thought the caster sugar would make it too grainy, but it actually tasted amazing as a filling in the cupcakes. Highly recommended. Take the time to make these!

Gingerbread Apple Pie - really awesome...I'm eating a slice right now.

Garlicky Kale with Tahini Dressing & Tempeh White Gravy with Biscuits

Both really good. I didn't read the tahini dressing directions right -- I didn't briefly sautee the garlic first...so it was REALLY garlicky kale. The gravy was super good, but I had to thin it out a lot...I think I prefer a slightly soupy-er gravy.

Ginger Pear Waffles - part of the weekly "Go Hard Brunch Series" with Seth

yea...they were alright.

Zombie Vegan Meatloaf...Vegan with a Vengeance has a recipe for zombie vegan meatloaf? NO. NOT THAT COOL. All Evan.