Your Vegan Mom

The Christmas Recap

Christmas is behind us and you're just going to have to trust me because there are no photos - the food was good. I hosted Christmas Eve at my house. Everyone brought appetizers to comprise dinner without a dining table. (Have I mentioned how small our house is?) My cousins both went out of their way to bring vegan fare, which was so unneccessarily thoughtful and delicious. I made the meatballs and a big pot of creamy roasted cauliflower-potato soup that we could eat out of mugs. I also made the rosemary focaccia from Veganomicon to accompany. If you are going to make this bread, read the recipe carefully- in my copy, salt is listed on the list of ingredients, but not in the directions. I had to knead it in. It turned out fine, but to be honest, I won't be making it again. My mom made the great-grandma's shrimp sandwiches. Along with sweet pickles and olives this is one of the required victuals for Christmas Eve. I made a vegan version that I selfishly hoarded in the kitchen when I ran out of time to make them look cute.

Great-Grandma's (Hey There's No) Shrimp (in There) Sandwiches

8 oz. extra-firm tofu, squeezed in a clean dish towel to crumble and remove any excess water
drizzle of tamari and agave nectar
1 c. finely chopped celery
3/4 c. vegenaise
juice of half a lemon
dash of cayenne, paprika, salt, and pepper
loaf of white bread

After squeezing out the tofu, toss it with about a tablespoon of tamari and about a teaspoon of agave nectar. Let it soak up some flavor while you prepare the bread. Remove the crust from the whole loaf, before slicing the whole thing, or each piece, in half so that you're left with perfect little white bread rectangles. Toss the tofu with the celery, vegenaise, lemon juice, and seasonings. At this point, you could rebag the bread, put the tofu salad mixture in the fridge, and assemble the sandwiches later. Or do as my great-grandma did and butter each piece of bread before sandwiching in the wet part to prevent them from getting soggy, but that just seems a bit profligate with the fat. Though you should know- my great-grandma, she smoked and drank and took the bus to work until she was 85. Anyway, if it's time to serve, then slap some of that tofu mixture between two cute little rectangles of white bread and plate them sandwiches with a garnish of parsley- that's another Christmas Eve requirement.

On Christmas morning we ate pancakes and opened presents from Santa, and I realize that's a luxurious order of events that I don't think we'll see again in this house until Desmond is in college (at a good UC). That afternoon, we played on the beach and had dinner at my dad's house. He made us a Tofurkey feast, and I've gotta tell you, I think the Tofurkey has improved. It had been a few years since we had sampled this seitan roast, and maybe it was just my dad's cooking prowess, but it seemed moister. Anyone?

We spent Boxing Day in the mountains with the mom and stepdad and stepsiblings and a lot more food, but in the chaos of Christmas, I left my camera at home, which was probably a blessing. Instead of obsessing over food photos, Paul and I managed to play three games of Scrabble and even see a movie. I just hope someone else got good pictures of Desmond waddling in his puffy brown jacket and green scarf and ear flap hat and red mittens because I don't think there's anything cuter. But again you'll just have to trust me on this one.

Ahh, That's Better

Soft and Spicy Gingerbread Cookies

So holiday panic has taken a firm grip on my heart. It's a real shame that I don't practice holiday yoga or meditation or holiday planning-ahead. The baking is done. The packages have not yet been sent out, but if they go out tomorrow morning maybe they'll be there by Christmas Eve, right? My annual mantra of, "next year it will be different," is in heavy mental rotation. I was hoping that writing it down here would help to make it so. The gingerbread won't get iced this year, but I figure that makes them more appropriate breakfast cookies. And I find what I really need right now is a good breakfast cookie. To go with the coffee and sleep deprivation. Merry Christmas.

Gingerbread Cookies
5 1/4 c. flour (I use half whole wheat pastry flour and half all-purpose)
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
3 tsp. ginger
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
rounded 1/4 tsp. salt

1 c. shortening
1 c. sugar
1 c. black strap molasses (this has a strong flavor, if you want your cookies milder and sweeter, use a lighter molasses, or a mixture of both)
2 Tbsp. vinegar
2 Tbsp. ground flax + 6 Tbsp. water

In a very small bowl, mix together the flax and water and set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour-salt).

In the bowl of your electric mixer, cream together the shortening and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the molasses and continue beating, again until the color gets lighter and the mixture looks a bit fluffier. This takes a couple minutes. Beat in the flax goop and the vinegar. When all of your wet ingredients are well incorporated, add the dry mixture in 2 or 3 batches. Mix.

Divide into 3 balls. Flatten into disks, wrap (I use parchment paper because I'm trying to abstain from plastic wrap), and chill for at least 2 hours. Roll out to about 1/4 inch thickness, and if you're doing this at the last minute like me, then just slice into diamonds- rationalizing that you'll make them look pretty with a fancy icing job later- or use cookie cutters if have the time and patience.

Bake on parchment-lined cookie sheets at 375 for 7-8 minutes. Cool for a minute on pan before gently removing to cooling racks.

Another Dumpy Omelette and Perfect Waffle Iron Hash Browns

I'm still working on my omelette-making skills. Despite the sad fact that this one just did not hold together in true omelette fashion, it was a delicious heap of breakfast, filled with chopped unturkey, shredded FYH cheddar, and finely diced onion and bell pepper.

But what was truly worth mentioning about this breakfast were the potatoes. Like learning a new word, suddenly the concept of making hashbrowns in the waffle iron was everywhere. And rightfully so. It is a brilliant concept. I read an idle, yet enthusiastic mention of the practice on the PPK forums, then I discovered an in-depth potato waffle discussion on Chowhound. Of course, never failing me, my nonna has a recipe.

But to be honest, you don't even need one. On Sunday, when our family required a serious breakfast, Paul simply grated 2 russet potatoes, squeezed out the water, sprayed the waffle iron with some canola oil, and dumped the potatoes in. We opened the potato-filled contraption when it smelled hashbrowny and we could see some brown edges poking out, after maybe 8-10 minutes? They were perfect. And low in fat, which is good because right now I want to spend all of my fat calories on cookies.

It Has Begun: holiday baking, part 1

The recipe for these low-fat chocolate-mint numbers is here. I doubled the recipe, used soy yogurt, Earth Balance, reduced the salt to 1/8 tsp. total, replaced the vanilla with 1 tsp. peppermint extract, and added 1/2 c. crushed candy cane to the 1/2 c. chocolate chips. Yum.