star wars cookies

Last night I made Star Wars cookies. I wouldn’t exactly say I’m a huge Star Wars fan, although I really like the Jawas and R2D2. Shawn on the other hand, he likes Star wars. We have a bunch of little Star Wars characters around our apartment.

Anyway, back to the cookies. I used the sugar cookie recipe from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar
. I wanted to put this recipe to the test after using the sugar cookie recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking
on many occasions. It has worked well for me, but it’s definitely a bit more involved.

The recipe from VCIYCJ was much simpler to put together and easy to work with. The cookies were fairly soft and very sweet. Perhaps next time I’ll cook them so they’re a bit more crispy. Also, I highly recommend chilling them a little bit longer after rolling them before they bake so they don’t spread.

Part of the reason I wanted to make these guys was to practice my cookie decorating technique. Yeah. I definitely made my frosting too thick. While usually I have the opposite problem, things running where you don’t want them to go, it took a lot of effort to get these guys frosted. I got in a little bit of trouble for not decorating any of the Boba Fetts, Next time!

I would love to say that they came out perfectly. They didn’t. They were cute. They were yummy. That’s accomplishment enough for the first attempt. I’ll report back when they come out as I envision.

I do have to mention one other thing, well, because I’m really excited about it. Cute and Delicious was mentioned as one of the Top 7 Vegan Blogs by Native Foods. Oh how could I not be flattered when I am complimented by one of the most delicious vegan restaurants in southern California? Not to mention, they love my cats. Have you been to Native Foods? It’s been a favorite of mine for quite some time. Check out this awesome Ensalada Azteca I had when we visited the Native Foods in Palm Springs a few weeks ago. Yum!

See, I balanced the cookies with some salad. 🙂

Ten Questions

Hello my dears! I’ve been thinking about you a lot. Brainstorming in fact, which in it’s own way has stopped me from actually writing.

I have some questions for you.

Here’s the story. I’ve had this blog for quite some time now. And I love it. I hope you like it too. When it started, it was an exercise entirely just for myself. Since then it’s grown into much more, something that I’m very proud of. It’s so terribly exciting for me that people actually read it. I’ve met and talked to so many awesome people from all over.

Ultimately I’m trying to keep making Cute & Delicious more awesome.

Here’s where you come in. I want to know what you think.

I just have a couple questions, and if you wouldn’t mind answering, I would be very grateful. You can let me know your thoughts in the comments or email me at veganbakesale at gmail dot com. 

Ok, here are the questions. If you don’t feel like answering them, but would like to give me feedback anyway I would love that too! And yeah I’m a dork so I made them multiple choice.

1.  Do you prefer reading about:

a.  vegan food

b. crafts

c. both

d. other stuff (like what?)

2. What would you like to see more of?

a. recipes

b. tutorials

c. finished projects/dishes

d. photos

e. lifestyle stuff

f. something else (what?)

3. Would you rather see:

a. shorter posts, more frequently

b. big long juicy posts, less often

4. Ok, what do you think about photos?

a. they’re the most important part

b. like a balance of photos and writing/recipes/tutorials

c. don’t really care about the photos, iphone pictures would be fine

5. How personal do you think cute & delicious is?

a. I feel like I know you from reading it

b. I feel like it’s pretty superficial

c. I don’t really think about it

d. I’m not even really sure who writes this blog

6. Do you think it should be more personal?

a. I want to know more everyday life stuff

b. please just keep it to the food and crafts

c. it’s fine how it is now

7. Ideally how many posts a week do you like to read from a blog?

a. once a week is good, i’m a busy person

b. a few times a week please

c. every day. i need entertainment

d. as many times as possible. i spend a lot of time on the computer

e. i don’t care as long as the posts are good

8. Do you follow me on twitter?

9. How do you read this blog?

a. in a reader/rss feed

b. i just visit from time to time

c. i click when you post something on twitter

d. i’ve never been here before!

e. i’ve come here from another blog

10. Is there anything else you would like to tell me? Do it!

Ok, for those of you who think this is uber boring, I apologize! There will be more posts coming this weekend, I promise.

Any one of you who were kind enough to help me out, I can’t tell you how thankful I am. I’m thankful that you’re just here anyway.

p.s. make sure you use a legit email address if you want something back

xo

Miss Alix

a few more Portland bites

This is the bagel that started my recent bagel obsession. Sesame bagel with avocado, pesto, tomato, cucumber and spices made fresh at Red and Black Cafe in Portland. Perfect ingredients. Perfect breakfast. Plus a tasty latte to go along with it.

So let’s talk about macaroni and cheese. I love it. It’s been a favorite of mine forever. Isn’t it a favorite of everyone’s? As far as vegan mac and cheese, I’ve had some good ones but they’re usually nothing spectacular. Don’t get me wrong, there are some damn tasty mac & cheezes out there, but not usually something that I would order frequently. I’m a big fan of the plain old Shells and Chreese out of the box. This mac and cheese from Hungry Tiger Too was an exception to the rule. This was the perfect cheezy consistency with big soft noodles and wonderfully tasty breadcrumbs on top. The ceasar salad that came with it was pretty darn good too.

Last but certainly not least, this tasty “chicken” salad sandwich from the Bye and Bye hit the spot for a snack to go with our drinks. I’ve already mentioned how much I loved the Bye and Bye. It’s awesome to order something that is outstandingly delicious while enjoying a beverage and their lovely atmosphere.

Ok this isn’t food, but I wanted to give a little shout out to Julia, Angel and Austin who we ran into outside of Powell’s books. When I say ran into, I mean, they started shouting “Little Vegan Planet” at us. Apparently they’re readers of Shawn’s blog and they recognized us. Honestly, I thought it was awesome. Not to mention they gave us the scoop on some vegan spots in Portland that we should try and were just super nice!

You should really check out Little Vegan Planet if you haven’t already as Shawn has the scoop on everywhere we ate on our trip. And if you’ve seen it already, he’ll be posting more in the next few days. Not to mention it’s the cutest ever.

Portland craft: Summit of Awesome

How cute are these guys? While in Portland, we got to visit the show of awesome, part of the Summit of Awesome. The Doug Fir lounge was filled with so much creativity and craftiness. I wanted to buy one of basically everything.

Going to a craft show like this is just so inspiring. I couldn’t believe how much talent was packed into this room.

I loved these rings. I couldn’t decide which one I liked best.

I probably could have spent most of my day roaming around this place and checking out all the handmade stuff. I also got to meet Becky from Glue and Glitter, which was cool. It’s times like those when you realize you’re a total internet nerd. Oh well.

After all that crafty fun we checked out some vintage stores nearby and then headed over to the Bye and Bye. You know the Bye and Bye right? Only the coolest vegan bar around. I think so anyway. Check out that amazing mixed drink in a jar. So darn good. Oh and then some other awesome stuff happened.

I think I’m in love with just about every aspect of Portland. I suppose I should share some of the great food we ate as well…perhaps next time…

Vegan waffles x3

You know what is great about long weekends? Making breakfast. You know what is the best? Making waffles for breakfast three days in a row.

I’ve had a waffle maker since I was in high school, but I’ve never made as lovely waffles as this weekend. Thanks in large part, I believe to a few awesome recipes from Vegan Brunch.

On Saturday we had the gingerbread waffles (seen half eaten above). Sunday we had raised waffles, my absolute favorite, eaten with no toppings, perfect on their own. This morning we had kamut waffles. These were the saddest of the bunch, but still pretty good. Kamut is great for pancakes but not as nice for waffles. I added even more syrup after the first photo was taken. Mmmm waffles. I see more waffles in my future.