equinox cookies
The Autumnal Equinox has arrived and right on cue the temperatures have dropped to a reasonable level. To celebrate being able to turn on the oven without turning the entire apartment into a sauna, I made a batch of fall sugar cookies with maple icing.
Sugar cookies are easy if you remember to make the dough in advance. I mixed these up yesterday and then spent the entire evening wishing it was time to bake them. I’m happy to say I still have half the dough waiting in the fridge for later in the week since I’ve already eaten about a third of the batch I baked this morning. I used the recipe from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar
The maple icing is just a tad maplely; just a hint for the beginning of fall. It hardens just enough to have a glossy sheen without being crunchy. Here is the recipe:
Maple Icing
1 1/2 tsp egg replacer
2 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar
1 drop orange food coloring (optional)
With a hand mixer, whip the water and egg replacer until frothy. Add in maple syrup and continue to whip for a bit longer. Sift in the powdered sugar an mix until combined. Add in food coloring if desired. Use right away or cover with a damp cloth.
With fall’s arrival I’m looking forward to more baked goods and more fall crafting as it is the perfect time to cozy up with a classic movie and work on knitting and quilting projects. I still haven’t come up with any Halloween costume ideas that have stood out. I’ll have to keep brainstorming. What are you excited for this fall?
Pumpkins
I know Halloween has past, but I couldn’t help but share a few of the amazing carved pumpkins and decorations we saw this year. Oh and an adorable black cat.
November is here and already our month is full of big things. Over the next few days we’ll be trying to see as many film as possible at AFI Fest. There is such an amazing selection and so many that I want to see, I can’t wait. Then, in a few weeks our two good friends, Baxter and Alicia, are getting married. Hooray! Then it’s my birthday. Then it’s Thanksgiving. That’s pretty much all of November! It’s going to be a busy month.
Halloween Tidbits
October has almost come to a close and we’re having a very relaxed final weekend. It’s nice to celebrate without feeling pressure to indulge in too many festivities. In fact, I haven’t even truly made a costume this year.
I did realize I never shared all of our decorations, like our veiled lady, which I think we’ll keep up for the rest of the year as well. Or our floating pumpkins.
We spent Friday evening watching more horror movies while I made a black velvet cape for Shawn.
I’ve had the same black cape for the past 14 years and it’s served me well (I even wore it to our wedding), now Shawn has one of his own that will surely last longer as my sewing skills have improved in those years. There is something wonderful and comforting about being able to shroud yourself in a cloak. I hope to make more, different capes to wear on a more regular basis.
We wore our matching capes to the Hallovegan event at Verdugo bar this year. I was pleased that they played The Shining all evening. Not to mention the delicious vegan food they had.
Looking forward to going to check out one of the most beautifully decorated neighborhoods in Los Angeles tomorrow. It’s so exciting to see all the kids trick or treating. Can’t wait to dress up some kidlets of our own.
Pumpkin curry
It’s pumpkin season. Hooray!
This is the year I had to actually roast one, not just get the puree from a can. I wanted to make something different than the usual pumpkin bread or the like.
I would like to introduce you to my version of pumpkin curry…also lovingly known as the orangest of orange curries.
So it started innocently with this little pumpkin. It was sliced in half, all it’s guts removed and then placed face down on a baking sheet.
Baked in a preheated oven for about 45 minutes until it was tender and left it to cool.
Then the fun part…peeling the skin off. Well, I thought it was fun.
Then this pumpkin got chopped up and ready to meet it’s other orange friends…
Two sweet potatoes. (Also appropriately chopped for the occasion.)
Even an orange cauliflower showed up for the party.
Where was I going with this?
Sorry I was hypnotized by the swirl of coconut milk and curry paste.
There’s all the orange veggies having a party in a pot. Making curry love. Ok, that’s creepy.
Some carrots were supposed to come to this party too but they may have been eaten on the way there.
Oh dear. I think it’s past my bedtime. I’m writing about vegetable parties.
Here comes the recipe!
Orangest of Orange Pumpkin Curry
1 roasted pumpkin innards
2 sweet potatoes chopped
1 head of orange cauliflower
2 Tbsp coconut oil
3 gloves of garlic, minced
2 cans of coconut milk
1/3 cup curry paste, or more if you like
1 cup vegetable broth
Heat oil in a stock pot over medium heat. Add garlic and curry paste and stir to combine for about a minute. Carefully add the coconut milk and then the vegetable broth and stir together. Add in the pumpkin. I decided to smoosh it in, but you could leave it as chunks if you preferred. Add in the remaining chopped vegetables.
Let simmer covered for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. When your veggies have softened, remove lid and simmer for 5 to 10 more minutes.
Serve over rice.
Pumpkin Ravioli
Recently all I want to eat in the world is pasta with some sort of nutritional yeast sauce. It’s just so tasty and the perfect thing after a long day. In order to spice things up a little and tie in some of that fall flavor, I tried my hand at making pumpkin ravioli. Did you hear about the pumpkin shortage? Word on the street is there might not be any pumpkin left after Thanksgiving this year. Stock up before it’s too late. While you’re at it, you should try some of these raviolis.
This ravioli is rich and filled with all the essence of fall. It is perfectly paired with one of my new favorite sauces, a buttery sage sauce. I was so hungry that I kind of skipped the part where I write down the recipe for these guys but I can at least give you a general idea. All measurements are approximate.
Pumpkin Ravioli Filling
1 can pureed pumkin
1/2 cup Earth Balance
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp Sage
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/4 tsp salt
pinch of nutmeg
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
Melt the Earth Balance in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Add the pureed pumpkin and stir to combine. Add the seasonings to taste and cook for about 5 minutes. Simple, right? Spoon into your prepared pasta dough (or whatever you’re using), form into raviolis and cook for 3 – 7 minutes.
The sauce, is very similar to the filling but with a completely different tangy flavor. It goes good with almost any pasta dish, but you probably want to avoid that since it’s pretty rich. It will be hard to resist though. Just so you know in advance. I never said this recipe was good for you.
Butter Sage Sauce
1/2 cup Earth Balance
1/2 tsp sage
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
juice of 1/2 lemon
ground pepper
Again melt the Earth Balance in a small sauce pan until it starts to bubble. Add the sage and nutritional yeast and let cook for about 3 more minutes, until it thickens slightly. Remove from heat and add lemon juice. Stir to combine fully and serve and devour!
