day after thanksgiving locavore feast

the menu:
lentil, butternut squash, cheese and arugula salad
cranberry sauce
oven roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes with rosemary and sage
mushroom gravy
sunflower and poppy seed rolls
sauteed kale with garlic and lemon
pumpkin pie w/ homemade crust




yummy rolls



the salad

excellent variety of foods, beautiful composition. the majority of the ingredients were from the farmer's market and several were grown/processed by our family. this was actually a fairly light meal, which was welcome after the huge vegan thanksgiving feast at Cafe Parizade yesterday, sponsored by the Triangle Vegetarian Society.

the standouts were the salad and the rolls. i was a bit worried that the yeast wasn't good. i rose the rolls in the fridge overnight and wasn't sure if they were rising rapidly enough. the poppy and sunflower seeds (and the addition of some wheat germ) were a great contrast. i made cloverleaf shapes so they were easy to pull apart and butter.

the salad, in addition to being BEAUTIFUL had a great balance of flavors. my sister said this was the most complicated salad she had ever made. me too, actually. this recipe came from gourmet magazine and is actually the first "composed salad" i've made in a while. the cheese we ended up using was a raw milk "Pheta" (never realized feta was a trademark) from our local Chapel Hill Creamery. we cooked the lentils the night before, then roasted the butternut squash with cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper.

recipes forthcoming.


my copilot.

A cupcake to be reckoned with

What do you do with a surfeit of canned pumpkin?

Pumpkin cupcakes of course! I snagged the recipe from Very Small Anna. So as not to steal her spotlight, you should vote for them in this month's Cupcake Hero competition!








I can tell you right now, these delectable little cakes are moist and spicy and they give way to reveal a gooey, nutty brown butter caramel on the inside. The only change I made was to replace her chocolate ganache with Isa Chandra XXX's famous vegan chocolate icing. This stuff really takes the cake! (please excuse the pun)




I only have a few suggestions to improve on this already amazing recipe. Use cupcake liners so none of the deliciously crumbly cake gets stuck to the cupcake tins. Second, let them cool completely before removing! I got excited and caused a few of them to disintegrate. Be patient! It's worth the wait!

Breakfast Today: In Praise of the Crockpot

I love my crockpot. It's tiny and cost something like $4 on clearance at Walmart. My crockpot and I are best friends because I am a poor, busy college student. Cook dry beans overnight from 99 cents a pound, what? Anyways, I'm cooking some pinto beans right now as I go to bed and when I wake up...tasty breakfast awaits. I'll probably make huevos rancheros or something.

Last year, LittleGinger and I tried to start a new tradition after I bought a 5 pound bag of pintos: Pinto Bean Night. It was going to be a thing. Sadly, it never came into its own. However, we did come up with some inventive ways to use pintos.

That said, my favorite recipe is simple and easy: Towards the end of cooking, dice an onion and add to the crockpot with your pintos. When pintos and onion are tender and fragrant, add garlic powder and dump in equal amounts of vinegar and olive oil (maybe a quarter cup of each). Salt and pepper liberally. The pinto bean liquor tastes dreamy and is great with bread to soak it up. I used to eat this as a midnight study snack in a mug with some toast, and drink the broth. Yum.

So breakfast today: a warm mug of tender, tangy garlic pinto beans.

pumpkin fest!

Today we made awesome pumpkin chocolate chip scones and pumpkin olive oil bread with dried fruit, chocolate chips and pecans. After an adventure waiting for the city bus, we finally made it back to PapaSmurf's place with our ingredients.



Us and the scones. Photo courtesy of Ryan Jones.

The first recipe was adapted from recipegirl.com's Whole Wheat Olive Oil Pumpkin Bread. We made our version with 100% whole wheat flour, adding dried apricots, figs and cherries, chocolate chips and pecans. Ours made two loaves. The olive oil gives the bread a nice crumb, and a very crispy crust for how long we baked it.

The pumpkin chocolate scones were glazed with a powdered sugar and milk glaze flavored with pumpkin pie spices. They look like something suckers would pay $3.87 for at Starbucks...suckers.

Photos are forthcoming!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Scones

2 c flour (we used white whole wheat)
scant 1/2 c sugar
1 T baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
6 T butter
3 T milk
1 egg

1/2 c chocolate chips (optional but AWESOME)

Mix wet ingredients. In separate bowl, mix dry ingredients. Mix butter into dry mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Add wet ingredients to dry. Shape with hands into balls, flatten into discs, and cut disc into quarters or eights. Bake at 450 F for about 15 minutes or until golden.


Spicy Glaze
1 c plus 3 T powdered sugar
2 T milk
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Mix glaze ingredients until blended. Drizzle artfully onto cooled scones. Glaze will harden. Feed to monkey. Haven't you always wanted a monkey?


Whole Wheat Pumpkin Olive Oil Bread with Dried Fruit, Nuts and Chocolate Chips

1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1 c white sugar
1 c pumpkin puree
1/2 c olive oil
2 eggs
1/4 c water
1/2 c each dried chopped fruit, chocolate chips, chopped nuts

Mix all ingredients. Bake at 350 F for 45-50 minutes or until done in center in greased and floured loaf pans.

Both recipes can be easily veganized with egg replacement and vegan margarine instead of butter for the scones.