Eating our way through the state fair August 28, 2008

 

Yesterday, Shane and I made our annual trip to the Minnesota State Fair.  We go ever year for the exhibits, carnies, fire eating munchkins, and of course, the food!  You’d be surprised at how much vegan crap there is to eat at the state fair if you know where to look.  Even if you’re on of those weirdo health food vegans ( I know you’re out there!) there are plenty of choices, including fruit galore.  The first nosh of the day was had here:

 

 

 

Delicious piping hot french fries, yay!  Had with soda and ketchup of course. 

Root Beer from Shane’s favorite root beer shack:

 

 

Frozen apple cider pops (sooo good and only 75 cents!):

 

Falafel on a stick and hummus with pita chips from Holy Land:

 

 

 

Not pictured are the samples we had:  Shane had some Peace Coffee and we both had a kettle corn sample.  I wasn’t impressed but Shane liked it.  We didn’t go on any rides but we did make our way through the haunted mansion:

 

 

And walking through the midway is always fun:

 

 

    

-Kala

Stripey Cookies! August 22, 2008

 

When I saw the recipe for yummy looking stripey cookies on Have Cake Will Travel today, I knew I had to have them.  You see, it makes a tiny batch (only five cookies) and we’re almost out of all sort of baking supplies so these were perfect.  I really wanted to make the recipe just as it was written, but we were low on margarine so I had to use 2TB of marg. and 2TB of non-hydrogenated shortening instead of all margarine.  I also had to add a little more liquid, but I usually do.

 

It’s a great, easy recipe and the cookies came out super yummy.  But the true test for all baked goods is how tempting they are during the photo shoot:

 

  

Yum!

 

-Kala

Shane’s Vegan Hundred

Its my turn to playing along with the Vegan’s Hundred posted on the Bittersweet.  I’ve only bolded things that I’ve had vegan versions of, I have crossed out the booze due to the edge and sauerkraut because I can’t get past the odor. –Shane

Your mission, should you choose to accept it:

1) Copy this list into your own blog, including these instructions.

2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.

3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

4) Post a comment here once you’ve finished and link your post back to this one.

5) Pass it on!

1. Natto

2. Green Smoothie

3. Tofu Scramble

4. Haggis

5. Mangosteen

6. Creme brulee

7. Fondue

8. Marmite/Vegemite

9. Borscht

10. Baba ghanoush

11. Nachos

12. Authentic soba noodles

13. PB&J sandwich

14. Aloo gobi

15. Taco from a street cart

16. Boba Tea

17. Black truffle

18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes

19. Gyoza

20. Vanilla ice cream

21. Heirloom tomatoes

22. Fresh wild berries

23. Ceviche

24. Rice and beans

25. Knish

26. Raw scotch bonnet pepper

27. Dulce de leche

28. Caviar

29. Baklava

30. Pate

31. Wasabi peas

32. Chowder in a sourdough bowl

33. Mango lassi

34. Sauerkraut

35. Root beer float

36. Mulled cider

37. Scones with buttery spread and jam

38. Vodka jelly

39. Gumbo

40. Fast food french fries

41. Raw Brownies

42. Fresh Garbanzo Beans

43. Dahl

44. Homemade Soymilk

45. Wine from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more

46. Stroopwafle

47. Samosas

48. Vegetable Sushi

49. Glazed doughnut

50. Seaweed

51. Prickly pear

52. Umeboshi

53. Tofurkey

54. Sheese

55. Cotton candy

56. Gnocchi

57. Piña colada

58. Birch beer

59. Scrapple

60. Carob chips

61. S’mores

62. Soy curls

63. Chickpea cutlets

64. Curry

65. Durian

66. Homemade Sausages

67. Churros, elephant ears, or funnel cake

68. Smoked tofu

69. Fried plantain

70. Mochi

71. Gazpacho

72. Warm chocolate chip cookies

73. Absinthe

74. Corn on the cob

75. Whipped cream, straight from the can

76. Pomegranate

77. Fauxstess Cupcake

78. Mashed potatoes with gravy

79. Jerky

80. Croissants

81. French onion soup

82. Savory crepes

83. Tings

84. A meal at Candle 79

85. Moussaka

86. Sprouted grains or seeds

87. Macaroni and “cheese”

88. Flowers

89. Matzoh ball soup

90. White chocolate

91. Seitan

92. Kimchi

93. Butterscotch chips

94. Yellow watermelon

95. Chili with chocolate

96. Bagel and Tofutti

97. Potato milk

98. Polenta

99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee

100. Raw cookie dough

Kala’s Vegan Hundred August 21, 2008

I’m playing along with the Vegan’s Hundred posted on the Bittersweet blog today!  I’ve only bolded things that I’ve had vegan versions of and the only things I’ve crossed out are the boozy bits cause I’m not a boozy kind of gal.  So…

 

Your mission, should you choose to accept it:

 

1) Copy this list into your own blog, including these instructions.

2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.

3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.

4) Post a comment here once you’ve finished and link your post back to this one.

5) Pass it on!

 

1. Natto

2. Green Smoothie

3. Tofu Scramble

4. Haggis

5. Mangosteen

6. Creme brulee

7. Fondue

8. Marmite/Vegemite

9. Borscht

10. Baba ghanoush

11. Nachos

12. Authentic soba noodles

13. PB&J sandwich

14. Aloo gobi

15. Taco from a street cart

16. Boba Tea

17. Black truffle

18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes

19. Gyoza

20. Vanilla ice cream

21. Heirloom tomatoes

22. Fresh wild berries

23. Ceviche

24. Rice and beans

25. Knish

26. Raw scotch bonnet pepper

27. Dulce de leche

28. Caviar

29. Baklava

30. Pate

31. Wasabi peas

32. Chowder in a sourdough bowl

33. Mango lassi

34. Sauerkraut

35. Root beer float

36. Mulled cider

37. Scones with buttery spread and jam

38. Vodka jelly

39. Gumbo

40. Fast food french fries

41. Raw Brownies

42. Fresh Garbanzo Beans

43. Dahl

44. Homemade Soymilk

45. Wine from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more

46. Stroopwafle

47. Samosas

48. Vegetable Sushi

49. Glazed doughnut

50. Seaweed

51. Prickly pear

52. Umeboshi

53. Tofurkey

54. Sheese

55. Cotton candy

56. Gnocchi

57. Piña colada

58. Birch beer

59. Scrapple

60. Carob chips

61. S’mores

62. Soy curls

63. Chickpea cutlets

64. Curry

65. Durian

66. Homemade Sausages

67. Churros, elephant ears, or funnel cake

68. Smoked tofu

69. Fried plantain

70. Mochi

71. Gazpacho

72. Warm chocolate chip cookies

73. Absinthe

74. Corn on the cob

75. Whipped cream, straight from the can

76. Pomegranate

77. Fauxstess Cupcake

78. Mashed potatoes with gravy

79. Jerky

80. Croissants

81. French onion soup

82. Savory crepes

83. Tings

84. A meal at Candle 79

85. Moussaka

86. Sprouted grains or seeds

87. Macaroni and “cheese”

88. Flowers

89. Matzoh ball soup

90. White chocolate

91. Seitan

92. Kimchi

93. Butterscotch chips

94. Yellow watermelon

95. Chili with chocolate

96. Bagel and Tofutti

97. Potato milk

98. Polenta

99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee

100. Raw cookie dough

 

 

Oh Fudge! August 13, 2008

 

Oh how I love dorky titles for blog posts!  Almost as much as I love fudge.  Peanut Butter fudge to be exact.  I made a little pan of this stuff a couple of days ago and it didn’t last long, it was sooooo good.  I’ve made this before, it’s my stand-by peanut butter fudge recipe, but it’s so much easier to do now that I’m using a gas stove.  Yay for the power of fire!  Recipe:

Peanut Butter Fudge

Ingredients:

-2 cups sugar

-2 TB light corn syrup

-2/3 cup vanilla soymilk

-1 TB margarine (I use Earth Balance whipped)

-1 tsp. vanilla extract

-1/2 cup natural peanut butter (salt free)

-chocolate chips (optional)

Also needed:  large saucepan, candy thermometer, 8″ baking dish

1.  In the large saucepan, combine sugar, corn syrup, and soymilk.  Bring to a boil on high heat, stirring constantly until the mixture reaches 234 degrees F.  Remove pan from heat.  Please be extremely careful, hot sugar mixtures are like napalm. 

2.  Add the margarine and mix until well combined.  Let the mixture cool until it’s warm but not insanely hot.  Stir it once and while during the cooling process to break up any sugar crystals.

3.  Add in the vanilla and peanut butter.  Beat with a hand beater until the fudge is matte and airy.  Press the fudge into the baking dish and sprinkle with chocolate chips.  Cool well before serving.

4.  Enjoy!

 

 

-Kala

Shower Cupcakes August 6, 2008

 

No, not cupcakes you eat while showering, that would be gross!  I made these little lovelies yesterday for a friend’s baby shower at Borealis.  A bunch of us worked together on a really cute knitted and crocheted blanket for her wee one and there were other little gifties as well (Here’s the Flickr link for those interested).

 

There was a huge spread of food and a surprising amount of it was vegan!  Of course, I’m one of those damned vegans who doesn’t like raw veggies for the most part, so I stayed clear of the veg platter (raw broccoli, ewwww).  The cupcakes I made are a very standard go to recipe that I might share one day (sometime after I die maybe?)  It’s one of those recipes that I worked on for a very long time to get right so I’m annoyingly protective of it, in public anyway.  Of course, there will be no holding back when Shane and I write the inevitable cookbook… 

-Kala

Homestyle Yumminess August 4, 2008

 

You gotta love foods that come in loaf form.  They’re oh so yummy and comforting, even when it’s icky hot out and the air conditioner is blasting away.  Tonight we had a favorite, the lentil burger recipe from Hot Damn and Hell Yeah pressed into a cake pan.  If you haven’t checked that book out yet you should, it’s super cheap and worth the price just for the lentil burger recipe.  To round out the meal, we had mashed potatoes and gravy (from a packet of course!) and some peas.  Yum!

 

-Kala

A Tale of Two Candy Bars August 1, 2008

 

The other day, Mr. Husband and I were at one of the five bazillion natural foods co-ops in the Twin Cities looking for some munchies and stumbled upon some candy in the checkout line.  I was pretty excited because at my level of lactose intolerance, there are only a couple of candy bars that I can have because most vegan chocolate is made on the same equipment as dairy chocolate and has traces of tummy ouchy evil in it.  But anywho, what I picked up was the Boom Choco Boom bar by Enjoy Life, a company that specializes in allergy friendly foods:

 

 

So how does it taste?  Pretty darned good.  It’s not life changing, but it’s a yummy chocolate bar that I can have and doesn’t cost ten million dollars (this one was under $2).  Shane also picked something up, but I’ll let him tell you about it:

 

      

For my part I picked up another Crispy Cat, the toasted almond one to be exact. Well, I continue to be underwhelmed by the Crispy Cat folks. The filling was a little better tasting than the roasted peanut I posted on several weeks ago. However I would never have guessed it was almonds had I not read the wrapper, the flavor is a generic nutty flavor, but nothing screams almond. The Chocolate was not as good as the peanut, it had even more of an energy bar flavor and did not have a good mouth feel to it at all. I can safely say that is that for the Crispy Cat.

 

-Kala and Shane