Pudding flies like a banana.

I'll preface this post with a short disclaimer, so that you don't all think I'm totally out of the loop.  I know there's been a lot of discussion about VegNews in the last week or two, but I don't want to add to that (really, how could anyone top this analysis?).  I understand their position.  Of course, I wish they had been more candid about the use of stock photos.  But I'm glad they've fessed up, and I'm extremely hopeful for the future vegan stock photography program.  So, with all that said -- I still support VegNews.  I don't intend to cancel my subscription anytime soon, and I'm not going to send back their weekly newsletters, either.  In fact, VegNews sends me some pretty awesome recipes every week (You can get them, too. Just go to vegnews.com and sign up for the Recipe Club in the right sidebar).  Most recently, they sent this recipe for Vegan Banana Pudding Bars.

The recipe comes from Hannah Kaminsky, who is pretty much a genius with vegan desserts.  She helped me bring vegan whoopie pies to Sophie's last birthday.  Somehow she keeps delivering winners!  I grew up in the South, where banana pudding is a mainstay.  And I don't mean banana-flavored pudding.  I mean rich, creamy vanilla pudding with sliced bananas and vanilla wafers, basically diabetes waiting to happen.  It's one of my favorite desserts of all time, but I haven't had any since sometime before going vegan -- probably more than five years ago.  When I saw this recipe, I knew I needed to try it out.

* Hannah's photo is much better than mine,
but I can at least promise this is not a stock photo ;) *

The recipe wasn't without its stumbling blocks, though.  Vegan vanilla wafers may be a thing, but they sure don't exist in Knoxville.  I went to three different grocery stores with no luck at all.  What's a dessert-craving vegan to do? Well, make my own vanilla wafers, of course!  Lucky for me (and you), there is a vanilla wafer recipe in the new Vegan Cookie Connoisseur.  The recipe made about three dozen cookies, and I used all of them for an even thicker crust.  It turns out you don't actually need to be a Keebler elf to make delicious cookie treats.

These two lovely ladies teamed up to bring me a delicious vegan dessert that really hit my nostalgia button.  And I got to share it with several friends who also seemed to appreciate the trip down Southern Memory Lane.

Kimchi, kimchoo

In March, I was lucky enough to attend a kimchi-making workshop led by my friend, Kat.  After a fun day of chopping (mostly vegetables, a little bit my finger ..), I had a gallon of kimchi.  With four quarts of kimchi sitting in my fridge, it seemed prudent and kind to share a jar with my brother.

* Chickens may not know art, but they know what they like *

I spent a short amount of time in South Korea several summers ago, and I learned to love kimchi while I was there.  I'm not sure when or why Duncan first tried kimchi, but he seemed quite happy to have some.  I've been pretty uncreative with my stash -- mostly eating it straight or adding it to an occasional stir fry.  But Duncan really went the extra mile and found a recipe to use his kimchi.  Duncan hasn't quite seen the vegan light yet, so his dish wasn't anything I wanted to try, but he raved about how good it was.  How could I resist making a vegan version?

The original recipe calls for beef, so seitan seemed like an obvious substitute.  I used a test recipe from Carla's Slow Cooker Cookbook; it's smokey and salty and perfect for this application.  Choose a seitan that is "darker".  The chili paste is completely optional, based on your tastes and the spiciness of your kimchi.  Mine was not particularly spicy, so I added 1 tablespoon of sambal oelek.  Next time you have some extra kimchi sitting around, give this one a try.

Spicy Seitan and Kimchi Stew
adapted from myrecipes.com
serves 2-3, probably
ready in under 30 minutes

1 tbsp sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tbsp ginger, grated
1/2 c water
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp mirin
8 oz "beefy" seitan, cubed
1 1/2 c kimchi
1 tbsp sesame seeds (optional)
2 tbsp scallions, sliced (optional)
chili paste to taste (optional)
cooked brown rice to serve

Find a medium- or large-size pan with a lid.  Heat sesame oil over medium heat.  Saute garlic and ginger until lightly browned, about two minutes.  Add water, soy sauce, and mirin.  Add cubed seitan and bring to a slow boil.  Cover and reduce heat to simmer.  Simmer for five - ten minutes, until seitan is warmed through.  Add kimchi and chili paste, if using; cover and simmer for 10 minutes more.  Pour stew over a pile of brown rice, garnish with sesame seeds and scallions.  Serve immediately.

* I didn't have any scallions, but I'm sure they'd be delicious *

Good news, everyone!

I promised some REALLY BIG NEWS, and here it is: I'm moving.  In a few months.  Clear across the country.
I'm moving from here:

* This bridge is currently in the process of being destroyed/rebuilt *

to here:

* Yeah, it really is that flat *

From lush, green mountains:

* Cades Cove *

to the tallest TREELESS mountain in the US:

* Rattlesnake Mountain *

A short 2400 mile drive away ...

View Larger Map

You might think I'm crazy, and maybe I am.  Finding a job seems to be a lot like getting married:  You can find the spouse that's best for you, but you don't get to pick his family.  Likewise, you can find the job that's your best fit, but you can't always pick the location.  I finally found a job that seems like an excellent fit for me, but sadly it's in the-middle-of-nowhere, Washington.

I'm really excited about starting a new job.  I'm really nervous about moving so far away from my friends and family.  Does anyone live in or near the tri-cities?  What's fun and awesome to do there?  Tell me about a time that you were scared to make a big change, and it all worked out!  I need the encouragement.

When a kid asks for a pony, a kid wants a pony.

* From geeksaresexy.net *

Happy Easter to everyone.  I hope you all get a pony, or at least a vegan chocolate bunny!  Come back tomorrow for some REALLY BIG NEWS.

Chop! Chop!

I'm a woman with dreams, goals, aspirations.  I wish I had awesome knives.  And I wish I had awesome knife skillz to go with them.  And I wish I had the patience to lovingly chop a full onion into a miniscule dice with these knives and skills.  And, while we're at it, I wish that wishes were dollars, so that I could be rich ... As it stands, I have decent knives and no discernible skills with them (and my wishes aren't paying off, either).  Sure, I can cut stuff.  I can slice; I can dice; I can make julienned fries (not really ... but go with me).  I can also cut myself pretty seriously when I get carried away.  In an effort to keep my fingers attached to my hands, I have a whole kitchen full of tools to help me safely get through the tedious work of chopping.  

The newest addition to my chopping arsenal comes from my mom, who sells Pampered Chef products (click on the link to the right if you're interested in more information).  For my birthday, Mom gifted me a Manual Food Processor, shown below.  It's a small bowl with a blade inside and a pump arm to get it twirling.  The arm even locks in place for compact storage.

* The bowl holds perhaps a four cup capacity *

 For my maiden usage, I cut up half an onion and a few stalks of celery.  I cut each into a few large chunks and dropped the whole mess in my bowl.

Just a few (maybe 25 - about 30 seconds worth of work) arm pumps later, this is what I had!  Onion and celery both completely obliterated.  This is seriously a better dice than I've ever gotten on my own.  And the best part -- no blood shed!

I've used the food chopper five or six times in the last week.  I've chopped onions, shallots, garlic, carrots, and celery all together, and got the same great dice.  The ingredients were evenly chopped and mixed throughout.  I even used it to cut up some seitan for a Not Meat Loaf, a test recipe for Carla's upcoming slow cooker book.  Sorry I don't have a photo -- the smell was too amazing to wait for my camera to warm up :)

My only complaint is that the lid doesn't lock onto the base.  I'm a little worried about flipping the lid off, but I think it's completely unfounded.  It hasn't happened yet, and I've been pretty energetic in my pumping.  All in all, I think this is my favorite chopping aid to date.  Thanks, Mom (and Dad)!

What could be easier?

If you've been wondering how you can help the victims of the earthquake and tsunami disasters in Japan, wonder no more! Head over to Chocolate Covered Katie today (April 5) for her blogger bake sale!  There is a sale for shipping to North America and a separate sale for shipping to other places, so everyone can bid on something.  Notice that everything up for bid in both sales is vegan, but there are treats for every diet beyond that -- raw, gluten-free, nut-free, etc.  There are even a few non-baked sale items up for grabs, including an indian spice set and a pretty swanky looking Arbonne kit.  So, check out the rules and then place your bids!

It was a dark and stormy night ...

... and I had a birthday!  The weather today has been pretty much awful, but that didn't stop my birthday from rolling through.  I had a great birthday and I just want to say a big THANK YOU to everyone who made it fantastic (including the 40-some odd well-wishers on facebook).

I got these flowers a few weeks ago (due to a small clerical error) and got to enjoy them during my last weeks as a 27-year old.  What a great way to bid adieu to a pretty big year.

* Beautiful flowers from a beautiful friend - Thanks, Nitish! *

Then, my parents gave me some lovely gifts.  My mom got me a few gifts from Pampered Chef, the 8x8 baking dish and the manual food processor.  I haven't had a chance to try either out, but I am super excited.  They also got me a bag of dried black-eyed peas.  Hey, they know what I like ;)

* The price tag on those peas? fifty cents.
Who says vegan food is expensive? * 

And, finally, an amazing gift from Derek: three new cookbooks and some awesome dinosaur figures!  My newest additions to my giant cookbook collection are Vegan Fire & Spice, Color Me Vegan, and Party Vegan - three books I've been coveting lately.  Now I can put at least one deadly sins to rest.  I really need to update my sidebar list; give me time, people. Give me time.

* A super awesome birthday gift! * 

* RAWR (that's dinosaur for "I'm taking over your cookbooks!") *

But I'm not the only early April birthday in my family.  My biggest niece just turned the big oh-five!  She is becoming scarily grown-up.  And she managed to wrangle much better weather for her big day.  She recently requested some chocolate-mint cookies, so I took this opportunity to kick it up a notch!  I made a batch of mint chocolate cupcakes with mint frosting from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.  I topped each one with a faux Thin Mint cookie, from The Vegan Cookie Connoisseur.  I just recently got this cookbook (yes, I have a problem. We can talk about that later), and this is my first recipe from the book.  I love these, and I'll definitely be trying a lot more recipes in the coming months!

* Don't let the purple icing fool you;
these cupcakes pack a minty punch * 

And now, some gratuitous photos of the birthday girl.  No, not me; the much cuter birthday girl! 

* A little bit of birthday magic! * 

* Enjoying the nice weather on G's birthday * 

* Mary is making off with the big girl bike! *

Happy April to everyone!  I hope the weather is a bit nicer wherever you are.