Flying South for the Winter

Nothing speaks of the upcoming winter as much as the turning of the leaves, fields surreal with pumpkins, the grocery store plethora of edible squashes and the migration of birds (and visiting relatives) who - sensing the nip in the air - decide it's very much time to excuse themselves and return to warmer climes.

And so it was a bittersweet weekend: my (visiting) father-in-law flew home, albeit eastwards, rather than in a southerly direction, and I marked the occasion by baking my first pumpkin cheesecake of the season.

I took the recipe from Colleen's JOVB and - yet again - it was a triumph. Honestly, I have not found one recipe in that book that hasn't turned out exceptionally! Don't believe me? Pah - take a look for yourself!



Need more?




When I came to the States, one of the differences in food styles was the humble cheesecake. Now, in the UK, the cheesecake traditionally is not baked - it's more of a refrigerated thing. And so the American cheesecake could be a tad 'firm' for my tastes. Unless they were 'Cheesecake Factory' cakes of course, but that's a whole other story from my pre-vegan days.

However, Colleen's recipe bridges the culinary divide for me: yes, it's a baked cake but it is moussy and light and delicately creamy. It uses Ener-G Egg Replacer and I think it's this very component that makes it so delectably more-ish. The spices are perfectly balanced - cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger - and the graham cracker crust is wickedly sweet and delightful. In the past I used to make a double thick crust - using twice the amount of crust mix for a really firm base to my cheesecakes - but this recipe really does not need that, and heaven knows I scarcely require the extra calories! Mind you, if you're going to have some cheesecake, HAVE some cheesecake! And this particular one is ideal for a late autumnal treat!

Stay Vegan, Friends!

Lemons fruiting in the summer sun

Risotto.

Even the name sounds vaguely exotic and mysterious, conjuring images of Tuscany, tree-ripened olives, flaggons of wine, picnic tables spread with linen cloths and lemons fruiting in the summer sun.

Or is that just me?

Well, whatever the case, it is an almost **transcendental** experience to have a meal fully prepared and waiting for me when I get home. But such was - again! - the case tonight. Man, I am a lucky gal! :)

I arrived home after a long day toiling with code and HTML email campaigns - yeah, right! - to find that My Beloved had prepared a summer squash, mushroom and lemon risotto. He was, methinks, demonstrating his culinary prowess to his (visiting) father, but hey I'll take it!

This was the result:



He paired it with a very nice South African (!) Sauvignon Blanc and had a backup Merlot waiting in the wings. OK, we didn't really _need_ the merlot, but it was a nice touch, given that it's coming to the end of the week and I am yearning - YEARNING - for the weekend.

I'm ticked tonight that I have managed to miss my first try-out at the Iron Cupcake Challenge, but I guess something had to give. Things have been busy the last few weeks, so I suppose that this slipped off the table. It's a shame, but it makes me determined to enter next month. Wouldn't that be something - if a vegan cupcake won?

:: smile ::

Stay Vegan, Friends!

One Down, Three to Go

Squash. Everywhere I look in our (admittedly compact and bijou) kitchen I see squash.

And so I took it into my head to bake one of the cheeky little things for dinner and this is the result:



In essence, all I did was to split an acorn squash in half, drizzle the inside with a little olive oil, scatter on some salt, pepper and a tad of garlic powder, invert both halves onto a baking sheet and bake until soft.

While that was happening, I roughly chopped an onion and a pepper (colour = your choice) and sauteed them off in a little oil basil, oregano and thyme. I added some Gimme Lean (sausage-style), chopped mushrooms, sliced sun-dried tomatoes and a baby bok choy that struck me as a novel ingredient. (Although I guess celery would have been more appropriate!) As a side, I threw a mix of brown and forbidden (purple!) rice into a pan with boiling water and let it cook until chewy and beautiful to behold!

Pulling the end result together was simplicity itself: rice is rice, say no more. I spooned the stuffing mix into the hollowed out, baked squash and was dissuaded from topping with grated Vegan-rella by My Beloved who felt it would have been overkill.

And that was that. A really nice meal, pulled together fairly quickly (even quicker, I guess, if you microwave the squash - although I've never tried that so I can't really recommend it, as such) and perfect for a Wednesday night.

Now I just have to figure out what to do with the other three squash gracing the vegetable rack.....

Stay Vegan, Friends!