Harry Potter Cauldron Cakes

First off, I know not everyone out there is a Harry Potter fan and
not everyone is an avid fan as some of us. If you’ve never read the
books, watched the films, or taken part in the wizarding world of
J.K. Rowling, I strongly encourage you to.

It may not change your life, but you may be missing out on some really
good entertainment. What’s all the hype about? It may have just gotten
on your nerves and now you’re ignoring it out of principle. Get over it
and go read the books. Really. Honestly. It’s not high classic literature,
but they are really FUN and undeserving of your contempt.

I am not just saying this because of how much I love swords and
sorcery, or because I was one of those teens those wore capes to the
midnight book releases, or was one of those who finished the last book
in less than 48 hours.

I enjoy fan culture like this because of the sense of camaraderie.
Sure you can go to a rocky horror picture show screening or some other
cult flick and experience the same type of tuned-in energy, but the
whimsy of the whole thing becomes addictive. The HP bug doesn’t turn
off when you leave the theater, it stays with you the whole way home
and the next morning and lingers-- leaving you wanting more!

Cult flicks are tons of fun, all the fans cheer when certain characters
come on or when certain credits roll, but Harry Potter is much more.

I think it also has something to do with how loyal the movies were
to the books and how disappointed I was in the new Star Wars and
Lord of the Rings movies. I’ve given up on comic book films (Scott
Pilgrim excluded). I still enjoy the rebooted films like TRON and
Star Trek etc. But they simply don’t exude the same intoxicating energy
that Harry Potter does.

It is engrossing because of the depth, the detail, and the sheer
extent of character development. For many of us it was also a coming
of age ritual. It was something for us to look forward to each year
and to hide away in when reality got a little low. Hogwarts was a little
escape for each of us and sadly it has come to an end. I was a few years
older than the kids in the books when it first came out, but I was still
growing up while I was reading them. So it truly is the end of an age for
some of us.

Now all the films are out, I plan on going back and rereading the series
(when I get some time-- Eventually). I’ve read the first few books more
than once, but not the later ones. So, I’ve gone a little fuzzy on many of
the details. Besides, it is always fun to go back and try and pick up on
all the little hints when you know what the ending is going to be.

To be honest, the end has left me feeling a little low and really old.
I don’t like waiting for Halloween to costume up. How often to I get to
flaunt my Ravenclaw uniform? For now, I’ll have to bid a fond farewell
to Hogwarts and a turning point in my life-- now I’m coming up to my
quarter-life crisis who knows if anything will catch on like Harry Potter
and steal the hearts of so many muggles... at least in our lifetime!

So lets all raise our butterbeer and pumpkin juice to what was a damn
good, magical decade!

Yes, I saw it opening night-- not the midnight showing, but still...
And of course it was epic! (Surprisingly violent, watch out little ‘uns)



In celebration of Book 7 Part Two, I made some Cauldron Cakes
for your enjoyment. To be honest can’t remember if there was a
description in the books of these or not. So I just made what I thought
Cauldron Cakes sounded like. These are not sweet, so don't expect a
cupcake. They are hearty and look like they were cooked over a cauldron!

Harry Potter Cauldron Cakes



3 cups unbleached wheat flour
3 tbsp powdered sugar
2 3/4 cup non-dairy milk + 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
3 tbsp cocoa powder
3 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup berry jam
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup raisins, cranberries, cherries or chopped dates

Sift together the dry ingredients.
Mix the oil, jam and curdled non-dairy milk, slowly add to the
dry mix and stir briefly to not over-mix the soda. Add the nuts and
which ever dried fruit you like.

Pour into greased and floured cupcake cups or mini bundt tins.
Bake for about 30-40 minutes at 350•F.

Serve while still warm with powdered sugar and jam.



Try em with some Pumpkin Juice!

Here is also a Vegan version of ButterBeer from PETA2 which sounds
pretty good, except I might add some vanilla vodka or spiced rum
to give it a real kick.

Munching muffins/ approached by Greenpeace rant

Working on Monkey-man's computer
right now, even more stranded from
all my photos and on-going work than
usual. Still haven't gotten my camera
back... tempted to just go and buy a
new one since the people that have it
are apparently never home.
Absolutely ridiculous... I am really really pissed off about the whole situation.

Another situation that got me miffed was a run in with a
Greenpeace worker. Walking into a bookshop to chill out while
Monkey-man was at work, I got flagged down by a dude with a
Greenpeace shirt. Hey, I'm not totally opposed to Greenpeace
so I stopped and chatted to hear him out. My problem with
Greenpeace though is mostly thoroughly summed up in what
how Paul Watson (The Sea Shepherd Society) described them to me...
"The Girl Scouts of activists" Yeah, basically... they're wusses
in my opinion.

I've seen them back down on important animal and environmental
issues on too many occasions. A lot of the time we need direct
action and they are not willing to walk that line.

So back to this guy. I feel pretty weird because I did end up
giving him my contact info, but not signing up for a donation.
Don't get me wrong, Greenpeace isn't BAD and I wouldn't mind
donating to the cause, BUT! There are organizations that I
would prefer donating to. Ex: one more progressive.

Also, he went off on the wrong plea with me. He started and
initially got me by invoking the need for ocean protection
and preservation. Yet, then went into how Greenpeace is
apparently setting up protected zones or something. Sounds
cool. Like protected habitats that enforce fishing bans,
to mainly ensure the total food chain balance is preserved.
So far, I'm in-- right? I believe this is what he was
selling me, which I am in no way opposed to.

Initially I though it was a sign up for our email list
(maybe donate), but this was a commitment to donating
every month a set amount. Ok, but not for an unemployed
student.

Where did he lose me? The whole time I was nodding and
throwing in agreements with his description of oceanic
destruction until after I had filled out my contact info,
but before I got to pulling out my check card.
This is where I stopped filling out--

"I love eating tuna and I want my children to continue
to enjoy eating tuna for his lifetime."

Me? "well, didn't you yourself just admit that this
damage to the ocean is a result of human ignorance and
over fishing?"

"Yes, absolutely--" (launches in to a description of
trawling and by-catch.

I cut in.
"Wouldn't it be better to just stop supporting that
industry and stop eating fish and seafood?"

Stumbling, "Yes, well.... We need to replete the ocean
reserves and... protect... We've set up reserves to
repopulate. If that's what you want to do, but."

My cheeks got hot. He obviously didn't understand or
maybe even care that a vegan diet is the first and
ultimately best step to throwing a wrench into global
environmental destruction. It was over.

So I asked about maybe volunteering instead of donating
and what you needed to do. He went on about needing
people about Sundays, I was thinking about how they
needed better spokespeople for the environment.

Oh well, not everyone is good with jumping back, holding
good ground, and thinking on their feet like that.
I think I may have caught him off guard after being
blown off by tons of people. But seriously, Girl scouts.
I will continue to support Sea Shepherd, PETA (despite the
lettuce ladys and shmeat), COK, CREDO, Compassionate Cooks,
FARM, and a few others... Not everyone has a clean record.
I do not always support Sierra Club, NRDC, WWF and the League
of Conservation Voters, but they have definitely been involved
in some nasty stuff.

The moral of the story? At least try to practice what you preach.
I've done a LOT of tabling, food demos, and leafleting.
You've got to be ready to bounce back from practically anything.
That is the worst appeal I may have ever heard.

I don't want to totally bash the org because of one individual,
and I am looking for an internship with an environmental agency
for my degree.... HA!

Alright, back in the kitchen-- I've been working on a peanut
butter trail mix muffin... Take a look!



I want to punch up the nut buttery taste, but the trail mix
strudel topping is to die for. Monkey-man said it was the
best muffin he ever tasted.
My response? I think I need to make muffins for him more often!

Apple Pie Crepes

Whist the monkey-man works, breakfast I shall make~

If there is something that knocks people's socks off, I put my
vote down for crepes. Crepes are one of those foods that carries
this illusion that they are incredibly hard to make. I beg to differ.
Granted, the first few are always gonna look kinda crap as you
get your fancy crepe making hand back, but really. They are
just thin pancakes. Don't let the French think they've baffled you!

I used a vegan crepe recipe from vegan yumyum.
They were pretty good, but a little thick and I ran out of soymilk
and I didn't want to keep adding too much water. Plus, I used
whole wheat flour.

Honestly, I can't eat crepe that often... but that is because a
long long time ago in a run down creepy house-- I used to
live with three other people. Typical college stuff... No
decent food, no motivation to cook decent food, and
an endless supply of eggs. That was because my Dad owns
a bizzlion chickens. These are strictly companion animals,
my folks are vegetarian... But they would send us cartons
and cartons of eggs. I don't even wanna know what my cholesterol
level was at the time! But flour was cheap and soymilk was the
only think I would splurg on, so what did we make? Yes, crepe.
All our fruit went into crepe. (I'm feeling slightly sick just thinking
of it...)

To turn back to the YUMMY crepe I made!!
I filled these we an apple pie like filling. Sliced fresh apples
with a couple of tablespoons of raw sugar, a tsp of cinnamon,
nutmeg, raisins and sunflower seeds!












Yeah, I baked these in the oven after with the filling to reheat the
crepes and cook the apples. Although, you could just pan cook the
apples instead. If oven baking 20 minutes at 350F is fine.

Twas 4 Days til Christmas: Vegan Sugarplums

While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads;

I wrapped lots of presents to send, burned an entire
batch of grapefruit marmalade, and ate way too many
cookies that I was supposed to be frosting. Hee!

There is only a few days left til Christmas and why
not get in on some traditional recipes? I really want to
make some figgy pudding. I made an excellent pudding
last year... (or was it the year before).

I’ll be making a tofurky casserole which my papa and I make
for Thanksgiving, but I didn’t this year because we were all
over the place and didn’t have a full sit down Thanksgiving.
With harvest roasted veggies, that will be our Christmas Dinner.

More than a Christmas Dinner though, we’d have a Christmas
brunch. We would have eggs and potatoes, pancakes, (veggie)
ham, and I would make my grandpa’s special orange sweet rolls.
That! is something I really remember at Christmas. We could
have our stockings before breakfast and open the rest after.
My Grandpa would make these sickeningly sweet orange sweet
buns, my parents would drink champagne with cranberries,
and my brother and I would have sparkling apple cider.

If you really want to awe your in-laws this year on Christmas,
forget the store bought cookies and pumpkin pie and pull out
your food processor. Leave them with visions of your kitchen
magic dancing in their heads. Forget the Starbucks giftcards,
who gives home baked goods anymore?

I cannot emphasize enough how wonderful it is to receive
something that really has that direct love and attention that
is so often lost. Every thing comes out of a box or from
a bakery at the supermarket, filled with artificial crap.
So people are shocked when someone does even basic
cooking. I love making something like this that is actually
pretty easy, but seems like you probably spend hours and hours
on it. Let them think you worked your butt off and bask in
the glory of these spicy, sweet little puff of Christmas Heaven.

From what I can gather, Sugarplums were named only for their
appearance, as they look like tiny little plums rolled in sugar.
Most call for orange liqueur, but instead I used fresh
orange zest for a more natural approach. This is also a
good substitute gift to cookies when your friends (etc) may
have wheat or gluten allergies. Not so good if they have nut
allergies, but hey.

Vegan Sugarplums

Sugarplum Faerie Dust
1/3 cup vegan powdered sugar
1/4 tsp cardamom
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice

Filling
1 cup almonds
1/2 cup pecans
1 cup dates
1/2 cup dried apricots
1/2 cup dried figs
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 cup dried cherries
1 tbsp fresh orange zest

Toast the almonds in the oven at 350F for about
ten minutes.














While almonds are toasting, sift together
the faerie dust onto a dish or pan that will be easy to
roll the plums in.
















With a food processor chop the nuts first and set aside.
Next process the dried fruit from largest to smallest.
This will keep the fruit at a pretty uniform size. 

Continue to process them until it all starts to clump together,
then add the nuts and zest.





































As you can see from my photos, I don’t have a processor.
So, as the sadist I am, I did this all by hand. It took me
a crazy long time, so if you don’t have a processor or alot
of spare time, I strongly suggest you go ask a neighbor to
borrow one! I just put Home Alone on and resigned myself
to chop for about half the movie.


























Once you have this all mixed together, with clean hands,
shape into small balls (a little smaller than 1" in diameter).
The sticker your hands get the harder it is to shape them,
so you’ll have to wash up a couple times. The key to
keeping them together is being gentle while your rolling them
out and shaping them.

















Finally toss in your spiced faerie dust!



































This make about 24-30 Sugarplums depending on size.
Store chilled in airtight containers, layered with wax
paper.

Using raw date sugar and raw almonds, this recipe
could easily be made completely raw if you like!

The Pie Saga finally concluded: Raw Fruit Pie

Things finally seem to be falling into place with the internet,

food, the coming Holiday, and our health. Thank goodness.

I promised it so here it is... my first Raw Pie.

No kidding around, I'll voice my comments throughout the

recipe. This is across the board refreshing and guilt-free!!

Raw Apple-Pear Pie

Crust

2 cups almonds, soaked overnight

2 tablespoons mildly flavoured oil

1/4 tsp salt

Blend all together- better yet throw it in a food processor.

Unfortunately, I do not have one. But process it until the almonds

have the consistency of sand. From now on this is how I am going

to use my almond pulp leftover from when I make almond milk.

Make sure to scrape down the sides as you go so it has an even

consistency. Press into

a pie pan evenly and set aside.

Filling

1 gala or fuji apple

2 ripe pears

1 tsp lemon juice to prevent browning

1/4 cup golden raisins, chopped

6-8 dried apricots, chopped

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp allspice

For easier blending , chop the apple and pears and blend

with lemon juice to obtain a chunky apple sauce texture.

Mix in dried fruit and spices.

Pour into prepared crust and serve! Easy as pie.

My only complaint? A little wetter than baked pies.

But the filling is amazingly just like a cooled cooked apple pie!

Sooo tasty.

Princess of Pies: Part Two

The pie parable continues...

Typically we are confronted by two kinds of pie right?

Custard/Cream Pies and Fruit pies.

Generally it is thought that pumpkin pie and sweet

potato pie fall somewhere in the middle if not make up

their own new category. What say I? Who gives a trixie's butt.

I love the idea of creating pies that no one would expect.

Or creating pies out of whatever you can scrape together.

For the vegan potluck we attended at Rancho Park in LA

on Thanksgiving, I made a winter fruit pie. Originally from

Catt Johnson's Witch in the Kitchen, I veganized it.

It uses a basic pastry crust, but I can imagine something like

a gingersnap or oatmeal crust being really good too.

The filling includes

3 cups of dried fruit (any, chopped)

I used apricots, raisins, golden raisins, and cranberries

2/3 cup vegan rum (white bacardi is good)

1/3 cup turbinado sugar

juice of one lemon or large lime

2 tbsp of earthbalance

1 tsp of vanilla extract

1/2 tsp freshly grated ginger

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp sea salt

Mix all your dried fruit in a bowl, so its evenly distributed.

Heat the alcohol, sugar, juice, earthbalance, and seasonings

over a medium heat until it starts to thicken and bubble.

Add the vanilla and pour over the fruit, stirring to coat well.

Allow to sit about 20 minutes, so the fruit absorbs the syrup

and it can thicken a little. Pour into your prepped crust and

bake for about 20 minutes at 375F.

With the extra bits of crust, I shaped some autumn leaves and

placed them on top. Beautiful!

For more picture in this series checkout my facebook page!

Manic Mondays: Apple Dumplings with Rum sauce

Sometime between breakfast and ending up in the produce aisle

yesterday I had to choose what I was going to make for dessert.

I had a friend over for dinner before Monkey Man's gig. He was

making pizza and I had the assignment of wow-ing with dessert.

I didn't have much time to commit to cooking something, so it

had to be quick, simple and (as usual) absolutely delish.

I knew though when I saw those pretty little gala apples at the market

what dessert was going to consist of. Whenever I go camping I do baked

apples, stuffing them with just some sugar, raisins and cinnamon.

But last night I made full blown dumplin's.

Don't know how much wow-ing went

on in the rest of the room, but my taste buds were pretty happy.

I believe my taste buds where dancing to a punk rock version of 'what a

wonderful world'...

I started with a sweetened pie crust recipe- cut in half because there

was only three of us.

Crust

2/3 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup earth balance

1/4 tsp salt

1 tablespoon raw sugar

enough ice water to form a ball with the dough- about 2 tablespoons.

Cut the earth balance in to the dry ingredients, forming little pea

sized balls. This makes the crust flake, so don't knead it at all.

Add the water and split into three balls (?) Two if you want

a thicker crust. Roll these balls out and cut into squares.

The Apples

Core the apples, removing all the tough bits inside.

The filling

mix together a couple tablespoons of raisins and sugar

add about a 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and couple tbsp of rolled oats.

I also added abut a tablespoon of sun flower seeds, but you can

use walnuts, pecans, or whatever blows your skirt up.

Place the cored apples on the center of rolled out crust.

Pack a third of the filling into the center of the apple.

Pull the corners of the crust up to meet the opposite corners

like a little package.

Stick em in the oven at 375-400 for about twenty minutes

or until the crust begins to turn golden brown.

To be honest I wasn't really watching the time or heat.

So don't worry too much. If your crust is cooked, your apple will

most likely be tender. Just don't put it right under the pilot light.

While this is all in the over or just ready to come out, start on your

rum sauce... which is comprised of .... soymilk... earth balance... sugar...

cornstarch or arrow root powder and rum. Dark or light rum is fine.

I used light, but dark would be just as tasty.

So melt a tablespoon of earth balance and 1/4 cup of sugar over med heat.

Dissolve 2 tsp of cornstarch in 1/2 cup of soymilk, making sure to avoid

lumping. Cook until just starts to thicken and remove from heat.

Add 3 tablespoons of rum and use immediately. That means pour

it over those hot apples!

Applesaucey Oatmealy Cookies

My little brother was sick not to long ago and whenever

any of us are sick, my Dad always absolutely insists on

putting us on the bratt diet. Rice, Banana, Dry Toast and

apple sauce. Never fails. Well, I guess Alex didn't really

care for the giant jar of organic cinnamon apple sauce that

my dad brought home and instead gulped down my

plain jar and left the huge one to... sit there.

Something must be done, said I. What shall be done, said they.

Cookies were spoken of and all were content.

So, I'm not exactly sure what I did here, but it was good.

I want to retry this and replace the oats with granola.

I think they would be great for hiking. Really soft and hearty

and not too sweet.

ApplySaucey OatMealy Cookies

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup earth balance

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons ground flax + 6 tablespoons water

2 cups rolled oats

1 cup of applesauce (any unsweetened kind)

1/2 cup raisins or chopped dates

Sift or combine the dry ingredients, except for the oats.

In a separate bowl cream together the earthbalance and sugar.

Beat the flaxmeal and water until frothy and light.

Mix flax in to sugar mix and combine with the dry, stirring

just until mixed. Add the apple sauce, oats and raisins.

Drop by spoonfuls on to an ungreased pan and bake at 375F

for about 10-12 minutes.

Vegan Cucumber Raita

Raita is a cooling salty yogurt dish or condiment served with spicy

Indian food. Traditionally it would only contain a few spices, mainly

coriander/cilantro. I cannot tell specifically if the cucumber raita is

traditional or not, but often fresh minced vegetable dapple this

creamy dish.

As far as yogurt goes, many dairy yogurts contain gelatin.

I actually created an entire podcast on gelatin, but never got around

to publishing it. Briefly, if you didn't know gelatin is the boiled tendons

and collagen of animal bones (or boiled skins) and is used a thickener.

I know that stonyfield, nancys, and wallaby(?) do not use gelatin,

but they are dairy products. So go the whole way I say. I used to use

stonyfield or the wallaby one when I still consumed dairy products.

Yet they always seemed runy or too wet. I now use (and rave about)

Wholesoy & Co., a diary-free soygurt. It contains live active cultures

and soymilk and tastes better than dairy yogurt if you ask me.

AND! Quite often it is cheaper than diary yogurt. I believe the organic

dairy yogurts range from 3.99-4.99 at my local health food store

and the soy-based yogurt is usually 3.39 when it is not on sale.

So! On to the freakin food already. The other night I made a big feast

of falafel, curried couscous, and raita. Man, falafel is one of my favorites

and right up there with curry. I will post a whole entry on my tricks

to making a better, healthier falafel. But right now... Raita.

I use a combination of two recipes from Madhur Jaffrey's World of the

East: Vegetarian Cooking. This is really a bang up book and I highly

suggest trying to find it. I think the original publication is from '81 or

something though.

If there are no kids partaking I throw in a little cayenne to add a

little kick.

Cucumber Raita

2 cups of soygurt

1 cucumber, diced (you can peel it if you wish, but I do not)

1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, minced

3/4 tsp sea salt

1 tsp cumin powder

1/4 cup raisins (preferably golden)

3 tablespoons of chopped walnuts

a little black pepper

Place soygurt in a bowl and beat until creamy.

Add all the remaining ingredients and serve!

I serve it in pita pockets with falafel, but I love eating it alone.

I swear this is one of the things that got me through my last

year of undergrad. But it is better to not let it sit to long

before eating. The earliest I could make it was late late the

night before I'd go to school. The raisins tend to get mushy

from the moisture and the cucumbers release water that

may cause separation.

The Queen of Hearts...

The Queen of Hearts she baked some tarts all on a summers day.

The Knave of Hearts he stole those tarts and took them clean away.

The King of Hearts called for the tarts and beat the knave full sore.

The Knave of Hearts returned the tarts and vowed he'd steal no more.

My tarts, on this summer's day, had three fillings...

Peach, apple, and Ohelo berry.

This little stint was for my folk's 26th wedding anniversary,

so I added the little hearts.

When doing any kind of pie filling I just add a little sugar,

some spices, a couple tablespoons of flour and (if its a big pie)

a couple tablespoons of earth balance. I jump back and forth with

using cinnamon, ginger, and allspice. I also toss the fruit in some

fresh lemon juice to keep it from oxidizing.

The last two tins I ran out of the fresh fruit filling so I chopped

up some dried apricots and raisins and threw them in with

some lemon juice and fresh ginger.

These are so perfect for parties when big slices are too much.

Also great for tofu-quiche!

Sweet and Sour Pearl Onions

This recipe is great if you're crazy for onions and pretty good if

you're not. I found it sometime ago in a generic vegetarian cook

book, so I'm afraid I can't cite my source. I'd like to try it again

with greens instead of onions to see how it turns out.

But the straight up recipe was very good and an excellent side

dish. I served it over couscous with a side of spicy hummus.

S&S Pearl Onions

1 pound of pearl onions, peeled and whole

1/4 white wine vinegar

2 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp tomato paste

2 bay leaves

2 sprigs fresh parsley

1/2 cup raisins

salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a deep pan and add 1 1/4 cups of water.

Bring all to boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Cook uncovered

for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. You may need to add a little

water now and then to keep it from drying out too much (depends

on your stove). Onions should be translucent, plump and soft.

Serve hot or at room temperature!