More cooking testing.

Two more test recipes from Terry and Isa’s Upcoming Vegan Cookie Book.

Roasted Almond Cookies with Fluer de Sel

Sweet Potato Blondies, squared

Sweet Potato Blondies, pre-sliced

Excellent, Excellent.

Dharma Initiative Brand Cake

My AWESOME friend Katie Jane made this for the AWESOME Season Five Premiere of LOST. And she took the photo.

It was entirely gluten free, with chocolate cake and Peanut Butter and vanilla frosting and filling.

I had fun putting Dharma Initiative Brand labels on everything in sight for the viewing.  I downloaded them from the Max Pictures website, thanks!

Altogether we had Dharma cake, scones, muffins, Smokey Boar Dogs with Zukay Live Foods Horseradish and Garlic Dill Relish, Mr. Cluck’s Secret Recipe Almond and Potato Chip baked chicken seitan and tofu, Ethan’s Island Chips and Salsa (Mild Zukay – it’s delish!), Dharma Composite Ranch Dip with veggies and potato chips and Is Jin Dead? Korean Style Kale.  The numbers were all over one wall, and Dharma station symbols were on another.

The goods.  

Thanks Farrell for the photos!

Rations Table

It wasn’t flat!  If only Sawyer was there…

Zelda with the main rations station behind her.

NO SPOILERS.  

I’ve spent the past month and a half re-watching seasons 1-4, and watching the 3-hour premiere last night was positively zany.

Asian. Grilled. Tofu.

Tofu. Marinade. Cast Iron Grill Pan. 

Side of Hoisin’d Veggies. Long grain brown rice.  

Lunch.

Lunch, lunch, lunch.

The Asian Marinade recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance and Veganomican can be found here.

I don’t really feel the need to talk much on this post, I’ve left the message to the grill lines and fu.

There’s a kind of hush…..

I’ve been forgetting my camera at work lately and not photographing all the fun food business I’ve been  up to.  Like, last night, I went to Nhut Quang with a friend again living up to my #2 fan status.  It’s quite a dedication for a SE Portlander, right.  Today, I had my camera with me, a sunny afternoon and a mission to photograph my lunch downtown.  After juggling ideas throughout the morning, I decidedly walked to the classic India Chaat House at the start of my lunch hour and sadly found them closed for the day.  

My thoughts turned to tofu and I found myself walking to I Love Thai Food.  I’ve recently read that they were under new ownership and slightly less vegan friendly and flavorful and wanted to check things out.  Sure enough, a new sign and menu presented it as I Like Thai Food cart and 4 or 5 people in line deterred my stop there.  Love to Like, really?

I peeked in at some other carts nearby but nothing called me in.  I found myself walking to Dreamers in another food cart lot since I hadn’t gone in ages and thought it’d be fun, but it was also closed.  I contemplated giving Small World a third shot for Ethiopian food but didn’t want to spend so much on lunch, and finally ended up with a falafel wrap from Hush Hush.  

Falafel Sandwich 

I dig Hush Hush for the speed (always served in a flash!), service and quality of food, but I do leave there smelling like falafel every time.  The past couple falafel wraps I’ve had there were still very good, but I found myself being annoyed with the tahini-soaked second half and pointless watery tomatoes.  I still the the falafel flavor and size deserve recognition.  The BEST falafel I’ve had recently was from Karam.  It was positively stand out – crispy yet moist and delicious.  I almost couldn’t believe it.  I regretted not going there as I walked with my lunch today, but I’ve made it through the rest of my day so far.

Exterior of Hush Hush.  Go in!

And that’s the story of my wandering lunch hour.  

Angel Food Marshmallow Making

Back in September, I bought myself a New Zealand-based Angel Food Vegan Marshmallow kit from Food Fight! on my birthday.  Ridiculously, it took me until this past weekend to make them.  Sure, it also took me a couple months to build up the nerve to buy non-organic corn syrup in the first place – I wanted these as old-school as possible.  With a cheap candy thermometer and my supplies ready, I spent a Saturday night making vegan marshmallows…..and then rewatching LOST, and eating marshmallows with friends.

Traditional Vanilla and Black Raspberry Marshmallows

The process did take time – though I’m sure I was done within 40 minutes of less: boiling, whisking, measuring, whipping, taking temperatures and setting. Go figure, as a food blogger, I enjoy spending time on culinary projects.  The end product wasn’t as Sweet and Sara marshmallow-fluffy (or traditional) as I’d hoped, but they are smushy and sweet!  I felt a tad silly buying a kit shipped from New Zealand for a vegan indulgence, but it was a positive purchase from a vegan company that I made at the local vegan grocery store, and for my birthday!

FYI, this kit and a meringe kit are also available via mail order from Food Fight! and Angel Food itself among others. 

The Black Raspberry variation was considerably…smushier, thanks to the extra liquid from the local black raspberry jam.

 Psst, I know (and have sampled!) Julie Hasson’s progress on bringing vegan marshmallows to the masses as well!  Thrilling news after the Emes-isn’t-vegetarian-gelatin tragic story from a few years back.

Fluffing in my mom’s old KitchenAid mixer

The messy boiling station

Live fluff!

 Yeah, I’m ridiculous.