Chewy Chocolate-Raspberry Cookies

This was one of the first recipes from Veganomicon that I bookmarked, but I just got around to trying it last night. They were extremely easy to make and the dough was delicious. Mine were finished in about 8 minutes (instead of 10). I'm pretty sure that my oven is off by maybe 10 or 15 degrees, so that's probably why. I was a little "meh" about them at first, but Mason loved them. I did have another one this morning that I thought was pretty tasty. I think that I need to try them with different (or more) raspberry preserves because mine seemed too mild. The texture is great, though. It's kind of like the top of a brownie in cookie form. I'd definitely make them again, but I don't really see them going into heavy rotation around here.

More Nom

Lunch today was a big pile of roasted cauliflower and the Snobby Joes from Veganomicon on teleras that Mas picked up at Fiesta on the way home from work. I replaced the maple syrup in the sloppy joes with agave and doubled the amount of yellow mustard called for in the recipe. They were really tasty, even though I undercooked the lentils a bit. And roasted cauliflower is one of my favorite foods ever. After lunch, we ate some Jelly Donut Cupcakes! My preserves sank, but they were still delicious. Too delicious--there aren't any left.

Nom!

It is finally here! There are so many things that I've been dying to try, but I settled on the Chickpea Cutlets and the Herb-Scalloped Potatoes because I already had everything that I needed to make them. I've seen them mentioned on several blogs and on pretty much every vegan board in existence, so I was hoping that they would live up to the hype. Uh, they did. Seriously. I threw together the potatoes in about 10 minutes and tossed them in the oven. The cutlets only took about 15 minutes to mix up and another 10-15 to pan-fry. I couldn't believe how easy these recipes were to make! I was expecting something a little more fussy and time consuming, but they were both simple and delicious. Not exactly healthy (especially since I didn't even bother with any veg), but really, really tasty. After all of the Nomicon madness, I was a little afraid that it might not live up to expectations. It's obvious now that I had nothing to worry about. I cannot wait to try the pound cake!

Now I Need A Bigger Kitchen

Mas checking out Veganomicon at Borders

I had a great birthday! Mason planned two full days of activities for us and it was awesome. We also went shopping (with my birthday money!) for some new kitchen supplies. Mason has been telling me for months that my bakeware is "sad", so I bought all new Wilton pans. I try to only buy things used, but I have had no luck finding cookware at the thrift store lately. I got two new baking sheets, two round 9" pans, a 9"x13" pan, a set of 3 cooling racks, a bundt pan and 3 sizes of muffin tins. I also got a Pyrex pie plate, a lemon squeezer, a big glass measuring cup and a chef's knife--all from Target. That night, we went to Borders to check out Veganomicon. Mason agreed that it looked great, so I used an old gift card to order it and The Joy of Vegan Baking from Amazon as soon as we got home. As if that wasn't enough kitchen supply madness, we dropped by Ace Mart the next day and picked up several things that we'd been holding off on--a new zester, an apple corer, a donut cutter, a cloth pastry bag, some sundae cups, a pie server, a huge ladle, a tiny spatula and a big bag of these for cupcakes. Oh, and did I mention that I ordered the new issue of Don't Eat Off The Sidewalk? Yeah, it was a kitchen-centric birthday.