Monsterrific Cookies

Here’s a cute little way to make some monsters for a Halloween party – but beware..these are packed with frosting, so they may not be for the faint of sugar 😉

1. Make Jo’s chocolate chip cookies (or your favorite cookie of choice). Make Buttercream frosting. You can either choose to color the frosting, or leave it white for the face of the monster. Separate out some frosting to color for the eyes and hair.

2. Place a large dollop of frosting on top of one cookie, going heavier on one side than the other.

3. Top with another cookie, so it sits at an angle.

4. Using a #233 Wilton tip, make two dots for eyes. Place a chocolate chip, or white chocolate chip, in the center of the dot for the eyes.. and place another one as a nose.

5. Using a #233 or #199 Wilton tip, make fun hair – wild and crazy, soft serve-esque, whatever tickles your monster fancy.

Happy Halloween!

Read Full Post »

Halloween Candy!

As we know, maybe all too well…that Halloween can be a taunting time for vegans. With all the chocolates and various other candies swirling around in our faces (that make us go, “ugh, why can’t they be vegan?”), who could blame us for wanting candy?! Well, unless you have the wherewithal to make your own peanut butter cups (which I certainly do, mostly because they are one of my favorite chocolate treats and I’m not going to let anything get in my way of enjoying them while maintaining my compassion) and candy corn…you may wonder what candies out there pass vegan inspection! Now, if we could only get all the houses to give out only these candies – or better yet, make all the candy companies turn vegan – it might be a step towards Candyland Peace (awww…). Ok, so here’s a list that PETA has comprised of vegan-suitable mainstream candies. <– I linked to the entire list, but I’ll only list the ones that are mostly Halloween-appropriate. Enjoy!

• Airheads Taffy
• Big League Chew Gum
• Blow Pops
• Brach’s Cinnamon Hard Candy
• Brach’s Cinnamon Hard Candy
• Brach’s Orange Slices
• Brach’s Root Beer Barrels
• Brach’s Star Brites
• Bubble Tape Gum
• Charms lollipops
• Chew-ets Peanut Chews (Original)
• Chick-o-Sticks
• Chocolove Dark Chocolate bar
• Chocolove Orange Peel (Dark Chocolate Bar)
• Cracker Jacks
• Cry Babies
• Dem Bones
• Dole Madarin Orange Fruit Gels
• Dots
• Dum Dums (these are my candy of choice to hand out at Halloween…and eat myself!)
• Entenmann’s Fudge Delights Fudge & Mint Cookies
• Everest Gum
• Famous Amos Sandwich Cookies (Chocolate)
• Famous Amos Sandwich Cookies (Oatmeal Macaroon)
• Famous Amos Sandwich Cookies (Peanut Butter)
• Famous Amos Sandwich Cookies (Vanilla)
• Ferrara Wafer Swirls With Chocolate
• Fireballs
• Food Lion Animal Cookies
• Food Lion Ginger Snaps
• Food Lion Oatmeal Cookies
• Food Lion Sandwich Cookies (Assorted)
• Food Lion Sandwich Cookies (Chocolate Creme)
• Food Lion Sandwich Cookies (Chocolate Fudge)
• Food Lion Sandwich Cookies (Double Creme-O’s)
• Food Lion Sandwich Cookies (Duplex)
• Food Lion Sandwich Cookies (Mini Chocolate & Vanilla Cremes)
• Food Lion Sandwich Cookies (Peanut Butter)
• Food Lion Sandwich Cookies (Vanilla)
• Food Lion Snack Crackers
• Food Lion Sugar Cookies
• Fruit By the Foot
• Ghirardelli Twilight Delight Intense Dark
• Goldenberg’s Peanut Chews (Original)
• Grandma’s Peanut Butter Sandwich Cremes
• Hubba Bubba Bubblegum
• Hubba Bubba Gum
• Jolly Ranchers (lollipops and hard candy)
• Jujubees
• Jujyfruits
• Keebler Animal Crackers
• Kool-Aid Gels
• Kozy Shack Jammin’ Gels
• Krispy Kreme Fruit Pies
• Lance Choc-O Cookies
• Lance Sugar Wafers (Strawberry Creme)
• Lance Sugar Wafers (Vanilla Creme)
• Lance Toasty Crackers With Peanut Butter
• Lance Van-O Lunch Cookies
• Mambas
• Mary Janes (regular and peanut butter kisses)
• Munchos
• Murray Butter Cookies
• Murray Cinnamon Grahams
• Murray Coconut Bars
• Murray Southern Kitchen Iced Oatmeal Cookies
• Murray Sugar-Free Vanilla Wafers
• Nabisco Double Delight Mint’n Creme Oreos
• Nabisco Ginger Snaps
• Nabisco Halloween Oreos
• Nabisco Iced Oatmeal Cookies
• Nabisco Oatmeal Cookies
• Nabisco Oreo Chocolate Ice Cream Cones
• Nabisco Oreo Cookies
• Nabisco Oreo Thin Crisps
• Nabisco Original Graham Crackers
• Nabisco Teddy Grahams (Chocolate and Cinnamon)
• Nabisco Uh-oh Oreos, Spring Oreos, Chocolate Creme Oreos
• Nature’s Path Deep Chocolate Cookies
• Nature’s Path Ginger Spice Cookies
• Nature’s Path Lemon Poppy Seed Cookies
• Nestle Double Chocolate Thin Mints
• Now and Later
• Orbitz Gum
• Pure De-Lite Coconut Bars
• Ring Pop lollipops
• Smarties (U.S. version only) – another personal fav
• Sour Patch Kids
• Super Bubble
• Tropical Source mini chocolate bags
• Utz Puffed Caramel Corn
• VeganSweets marshmallows
• Velamints Mints
• Zotz

Happy Halloween!

Update: I found another list of vegan-friendly candies through Farm Sanctuary…check it out at Veg For Life! It’s got some repeats, but also some that aren’t on PETAs list.. 🙂

Read Full Post »

Persephone’s Underworld-Famous Chili

This chili recipe is known throughout the Underworld, and revered as the quintessential ‘Red Ribbon’ (since it’s hot down there, they don’t have blues..they have reds) Chili – and would you expect anything less from Persephone – the wife and Queen of the big man himself, Hades!? Of course not.. So here is a chili that is hot enough to burn the tongues of those banished to the Underworld, such as The Titans or Tantalus, not to mention those who choose to inhabit it, such as Charon or Cerberus. So take a temporary little trip to fiery hell, without actually going there 😉 The heat of the jalapeños won’t linger, so don’t be afraid. However, if you can’t take the heat….reduce it to 1 jalapeno. And only for the bravest of souls, adding a bit of cayenne will banish all those demons back to the hell they came from…

Ingredients:

1/3 dry C each of 4 beans, soaked overnight and cooked (or use about 3 cans of beans: black, pinto, and kidney or cannellini)
1 med onion, minced
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 jalapeños, minced
2 TBSP chili powder
1tsp each garlic powder, cumin, oregano, salt
1 8oz can tomato sauce
4 C broth

Directions:

1. Soak and cook the beans.
2. When ready to make the chili, heat 2 TBSP canola oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Mince the onion, garlic, and jalapenos. Add to the hot oil, and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook about 8 minutes, until the onions begin to soften.
3. Add chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, oregano, and salt. Stir to combine (it will become very dry at this point). Add the tomato sauce and broth. Stir to combine, and bring to a simmer.
4. Simmer for 30 minutes, serve sprinkled with cornbread, and enjoy!

**I’ve been known to serve my chili with cornbread (as above) or tortilla chips, but my personal all-time favorite accompaniment to chili is a flour tortilla, rolled up so I can dip it into the chili! Oh, it’s sooooo good!

Happy Cooking!

On This Day In History: Veggie Sushi

Read Full Post »

Double Chocolate Diablo

As I sit here at the local Barnes & Noble (free wi-fi) in my chair that is so big my feet don’t reach the ground, I feel that childish giddy that comes with the cold weather and its natural companion, hot chocolate! I used So Delicious Coconut Milk beverage in this recipe, but any milk will do… it’s just that the CM beverage is slightly thicker, giving the cocoa a more rich and velvety texture – which I love! I feel like this drink is best summed up in the song, Hot Child In The City by Nick Gilder…. 😉 though this cocoa is NOT for kiddos! So enjoy your “danger in the shape of somethin’ wild” and who cares “where she came from or what her game is….”

Ingredients:

2 C So Delicious coconut milk beverage
hot cocoa amount per directions on package for 2 C
4 squares Maya Gold Green&Black chocolate (or any other chocolate bar with spice, about 2 TBSP if using chocolate chips)
1/4 tsp cayenne (if you want it spicy spicy, add in more pinches until desired heat)
1 TBSP Amaretto or Cointreau

Directions:

1. Fill your mug with hot water and let sit while you make the cocoa, so the cup gets warm – keeping your cocoa warmer just a little bit longer.
2. In a small saucepan, heat 2 C CM beverage (or other milk) over medium-low heat. Add cocoa powder (for 2 C/16 oz), 1/4 tsp cayenne, and the 4 small squares of Maya Gold (or about 2 TBSP chocolate chips).
3. Whisk until chocolate is melted, and the mixture is steaming but not boiling. Remove from heat, add Amaretto or Cointreau.
4. Pour into warmed mug, top with a Sweet & Sara marshmallow and enjoy!!

Happy Drinking!

On This Day In History: Sopapillas

Read Full Post »

“Welcome to the Boneyard” Biscuits

“…We’ve got fun ‘n’ games!” Here’s a treat for the evil sidekick that helps you pull off all your sinister plans without foil. For your ever-loving pooch, some peanut butter and flax cookie/biscuits is just what Dr. Evil ordered! These are simple enough to make quickly, leaving plenty of time to plot against your nemesis…. This recipe made 11 big ones, and 12 mini’s – but I could’ve made 12 big ones if Mocha and I hadn’t nibbled on so much dough. 😉

Ingredients:

2 TBSP ground flaxseed in 4 TBSP warm water
1/2 C peanut butter – crunchy or creamy
1/4 C agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla
1 TBSP hemp milk
1.5 C oat flour
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Place ground flax in the warm water, set aside. In an electric mixer, mix the peanut butter, nectar, vanilla, and hemp milk until combined.
2. Add in the dry ingredients and mix until it becomes a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap, in the shape of a disc, and let chill 20 minutes.
3. Roll out on lightly floured, or plastic-wrapped, surface to about 1/8-1/4 inch thick. Cut out bones with a floured cookie cutter, and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place in fridge to chill while oven preheats to 350°F.

4. Bake at 350°F for 20-30 minutes (depending on how crunchy your pooch prefers). Store in an airtight container – and they’ll last a couple weeks (I’ve had mine for at least a week now, and they are still perfectly fine).

*For human consumption, you may want to glaze them with a simple powdered sugar and milk glaze to up the sweetness factor. They taste decent (and the dough is good, approved by both me AND Mocha), but not as sweet as I would prefer for myself. However, I wouldn’t want to give Mocha too much sweet/sugar.

Happy Baking!

Read Full Post »

Happy Days of October!

Happy World Vegetarian Day! Happy October, and that means Halloween and IDA’s Go Vegan Days (Oct 26-31, and does anyone else think Woody is simply delicious?)! Happy Vegan MoFo 2009!! So many delicious ways to celebrate this month…how are we going to be able to contain ourselves? Not to mention October 16 is World Food Day (UN)! So with all our creative and delicious juices, let’s help save the world one vegan meal at a time! Since this is the first day of October, and the kick-off for Vegan MoFo III….I thought I’d recap some of the delicious treats from last October! Bats and ghosts and spiders, oh my!

Coming up this month will include some Chocolate Heart of Darkness, Black Frosting Roses, Haunted Dollhouse-inspired creations, and Ms. Stewart-inspired Piña Ghouladas. So buckle up kiddies, we’re in for a devilishly delicious time this month!

On This Day In History: Orzo-Almond Salad

Happy Vegan MoFo!!!

Read Full Post »

Spideycakes

“Well you play that Tarantella, all the hounds will start to roar…” Ah, Tom Waits is perfect in any Halloween playlist! These little spidey’s were so easy to make – as with the bats – I sketched out little round heads and little round bodies, used Wilton #1 tip and made little blobs and put them in the fridge to chill out. Then topped lightly frosted vanilla cupcakes, used melted chocolate with Wilton #1 tip again to make the legs..and voilà…Creepy crawly little spideycakes!

Happy Halloween everybody!!

Read Full Post »

It’s the Great Candy Corn Pumpkin….

Not only is Candy Corn my quintessential Halloween candy, October 30th is designated National Candy Corn Day! And while I didn’t turn these puppies into kernel shapes of the traditional variety..I did take the liberty of using the Urban Housewife’s recipe to make Pumpkin shapes…

In addition to halving the recipe, I did make some minor changes..which were as follows:

1/2 C sugar
1 tsp brown sugar
1/3 C brown rice syrup
2.5 TBSP Earth Balance Vegan Butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
1.25 C powdered sugar
3 TBSP hemp protein powder (the hemp is what’s giving the pumpkins a speckled look, which I used because I didn’t have any powdered soy milk)
a pinch of sea salt

I used the same preparation steps Melisser (The Urban Housewife) used. Next time I’ll have to make green stems, and a brighter orange pumpkin, but I thought they turned out rather well…and they tasted great! All I did was roll out the dough, cut out rounds with the top of a shotglass which I then used my hands to roll them into a ball. I rolled out a long thing strip which ultimately became the stems, and to make the gourdy indentions I used the side of a fork!

Happy Halloween!

Read Full Post »

Batdance Cupcakes

“Well Miss Vale, Ever dance with the devil in the pale moon light? I always ask that of all my pray. I just like the sound of it… Batdance!” Don’t you just love Prince!?! I do, and I love Batman..especially Micheal Keaton, well..that’s not to say that I’m not totally in love with Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne…

anyway… These cupcakes are, again, the vanilla cupcakes and basic unbuttercream as for the ghosts… For the bats, I drew freehand pencil sketches on parchment paper and then with melted chocolate and a Wilton #1 tip made the bats, placed them in the fridge to set up – about 30 minutes..then placed on top of the cupcakes. (side note: having them filled instead of just outlined seemed to help make them sturdier so they didn’t fall apart after being set on the cupcakes). Then I set the colony on flight to the dance-party….

Happy Halloween!

Read Full Post »

Casper the Friendly Cupcake!

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays! I love the costumes, the goodies, and watching scary movies! So without getting into costumes and scary movies, let’s talk goodies! This week will be a full week of terrifying treats…without the tricks! Well..maybe a few tricks 😉 So to start off the week, who better than our friendly ghost, Casper.. For these cupcakes, I made the simple vanilla cupcake from VCTOTW (but any white cake recipe will do) and a basic unbuttercream. I didn’t add food coloring, just left it basic white! Then I went to town with my piping skills..and voilà! Ghosts!!

For the atmosphere I used the Wilton #233 multi-open tip for a hair-like or grass-like effect, and for Casper I used the Wilton #12 round tip and just swirled like I was making a soft-serve cone. Then I took some melted chocolate and used the Wilton #1 round tip to dot the eyes…

Happy Halloween!

Read Full Post »