Curried Pumpkin Stew

Saute in olive oil over medium heat until onion is translucent:

Half a medium onion diced
Half a sweet red pepper diced

Add and saute
2 Tbls curry powder (or to taste)
2 cloves crushed garlic

Add and simmer until thick and bubbly about 7-8 minutes:
1 large can tomatoes
1 tsp salt

mix in and bring to a boil:
1 13 oz can coconut milk
4 cups casper pumpkin, butternut squash or other good tasting squash or pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cut into 1 inch chunks

Fill can with water and pour into soup pot

Reduce heat, cover and let simmer until the pumpkin is soft, about 15 minutes.

Add:
1 can coconut milk (this is the second can of coconut milk)
2 15 oz cans garbanzo beans/ chick peas

simmer uncovered until hot and steamy. Serve with wild rice or good brown rice

Catch and Release Cupcakes

So, you have all your cupcakes baked, iced and ready to go. But how do you go? Here is what I did to make my cupcakes transportable--without buying and expensive cupcake holder. Lay a piece of ribbon on top of the cupcake pan and drop the frosted cupcakes on top. When ready to serve, gently tug the end of the ribbon and it lifts the cake out of the pan!

Favorite Butter-Cream Frosting (thank you Colette Peters!)

1 cup butter (sweet cream unsalted)
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk
2 pounds powdered sugar

Cream butter until very light in color and fluffy. Add milk and vanilla. Add powdered sugar and mix until fluffy.

Impromptu Cookies (AKA Dang it! Cookies

Today I am having an impromptu swimming party for some of my teenage friends from church. I decided to bake Choc-Chip Oatmeal Cookies. I creamed the butter and sugars, added the vanilla and went to the fridge to grab the eggs and remembered I had left them in the car last night and were now in my true love's work (in the fridge, but still!!!). I remembered a little trick I read in Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's Joy of Vegan Baking, and grabbed the ground flax seeds. When it came time to add the oatmeal, I measured a cup and ... Well, that was it. All the oatmeal in the house--one cup. Dang it! I did however find a box of crispy rice cereal. This is what I ended up with and they are surprisingly good--really crisp and chewy!

Impromptu Cookies

2 Tbls ground flax seed
6 Tbls water

1 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp real vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt (less if using salted butter)
2 cups + 2 Tbls flour
1 cup oatmeal
2 cups crisp rice cereal
1 1/2 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
1 cup white chocolate chips
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup toasted walnuts (optional if feeding a crowd)

In blender of food processor blend flax and water until thick and creamy. Set aside.
Cream butter
Add sugars and cream until light and fluffy. Cream in vanilla and flax seed mixture. (I cheat here and add my baking powder, soda and salt--but don't tell your baking friends if you do this, for some reason they think it all needs to be added in with the flour! Just be sure it doesn't have hard lumps!) Mix in flour. Fold in cereal, chips, cranberries and nuts.
Drop into cookie sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for about 8-9 minutes at 375. Let cool on pan briefly then remove to a cooling rack.

Tips:
I received one of technologies greatest inventions ever!-for my birthday this year. A miniature ice cream scoop designed to regulate the size of your cookie dough. Thank you JE!!!
I am practicing making cute little balls of dough of uniform size. Who knew!

Carrot cake for forklift owners

This is my favorite carrot cake. It is easy, fast and totally amazing.
It is filled with goodness and weighs a ton!

1cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup vegatable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
2 tsp vanilla
Mix these ingredients together in a large bowl

Whisk together 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp backing soda
1 tsp salt
Add to the wet ingredients

Fold in
2 cups shredded carrots
2 cups flaked coconut
1 8 oz can crushed pineapple
1 cup toasted walnuts

Pour into a greased 9x13 pan and bake at 350F for about 50 minutes or until the cake has pulled away from the sides and a toothpick comes out dry (not doughy). Let cool completely and frost with:

Frosting
6 oz cream cheese at room temperature
1/2 cup butter at room temperature
1/4 cup milk at room temperature
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp salt
Whip these ingredients together until no lumps appear and mixture is creamy.
Beat in
3-4 cups powdered sugar
It should have the consistency of a thick goey frosting, don't add too much sugar!


Hints and secrets:

• Toast the walnuts in the preheating oven while you mix the batter. Toasted nuts add a depth of flavor that you don't get if you don't take the time to toast.

• As you experiment with baking you will become more experienced as to what a cake that is done looks like vs. a cake that needs a few more minutes or has been baking too long. A dry cake often indicates that it has been baked too long. Cakes that sink in the middle often indicate that the cake has not baked long enough or the batter was too thin (too much liquid--eggs are too big? Most recipes call for Large eggs).

• It is important to have the ingredients for the frosting at room temperature and to blend the ingredients until there are no lumps. Biting into a lump of cream cheese is anything but yummy. To warm ingredients to room temperature use the defrost setting on your microwave. My microwave will warm butter to about room temperature in less than 30 seconds on defrost. Go slowly, you don't want to melt the cheese, or butter! If you can't seem to get rid of lumps, let the mixture sit at room temperature for a 10-20 minutes to allow the ingredients to soften. Overly soft or warm ingredients will make runny frosting.