Peanut Butter Pie

I love tofu, but I didn't think it belonged in dessert until I made this pie. I have never made anything so delicious. And it's surprisingly easy to put together, so I've already made it three times this month. Even my tofu-weary father likes it.

I struck pretty closely to the recipe I found here.



Ingredients

- 12 oz. Extra-Firm or Firm Silken Tofu
- 1 cup peanut butter
- 1/3 cup powdered sugar
- 1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons agave nectar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup non-dairy milk
- 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- 1 graham cracker crust (recipe here, or get a pre-made crust)
- peanuts, for garnish

Drain and rinse the tofu and squish out any excess water. Combine the tofu, peanut butter, powdered sugar, and 1/3 cup of the agave nectar in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Pour into pie crust and refrigerate. There will still be quite a bit of room in the pan; that's for the ganache.

Now comes the chocolate. Bring your vegan milk of choice to a gentle boil in a small saucepan. As soon as it boils, remove it from the heat and mix in the chocolate and 2 tablespoons of agave syrup until everything is fully melted and evenly combined. Let sit for 10 minutes at room temp until it solidifies. Take the pie out of the fridge and pour or drizzle the ganache on top. Add garnish if you'd like. Put in the refrigerator for two hours before you eat it. An hour in the freezer will also do.

See, it's eaaaasy. And delicious.

Chewy Ginger Molasses Cookies

Molasses, fresh ginger, and just a little bit of cocoa powder. These cookies are DELICIOUS. This recipe was adapted from one that I found here.



Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup vegan margarine
• 2 tablespoon grated ginger
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup unsulfured blackstrap molasses
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons boiling water
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup organic granulated sugar

Directions:

In a medium-sized bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and cocoa powder.

In a large bowl, blend vegan margarine and grated ginger with an electric mixer until fluffy. Blend in the brown sugar and molasses.

Dissolve the baking soda in 1-1/2 teaspoons of boiling water in a small bowl and add to the wet mix. Beat in half of the dry mixture until combined and then beat in the other half until everything is combined.

Pat this all down flat on wax paper and refrigerate for about 2 hours.

Heat oven to 325° F. Hand roll dough into 1-inch balls and roll in granulated sugar to coat. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake 10 to 12 minutes or until the surface cracks. Make sure they cool for five minutes.

Eat them with spiked apple cider when it's way too cold to go outside.

The Multnomah County Library

Turns out The Multnomah County Library has quite the zine library. I've been quite impressed. It's exciting to see a public library encourage and celebrate alternative lifestyles to the extent that this one does:

"An effort is made to purchase zines on subjects that are not well covered by materials in other parts of the library's collection, for example: vegan cooking, dumpstering, raw foods, anarchism, bicycle culture, animal rights activism, grassroots and community activism and organizing, and the culture of underground music." -from the library's Collection Policy

Photo taken from DIY Alert

A couple zines that I've really enjoyed recently have been The Frugal Vegan's Harvest and Holiday Survival Guide because it includes lots of cheap ideas for holiday gifts as well as cheap ways to stay happy when its cold outside. Also, Coffeeshop Crushes because everyone likes good crush stories.

I've also been looking at a lot of cookzines. One of my goals for 2010 is to make my own cookzine, so I've been doing a lot of research at the library. And in the kitchen, of course.

Transitions

I made a kind of big decision a few weeks ago.


I wasn't getting enough hours at the women's shelter and the cupcake sales were dwindling as the rainy season began. Instead of finding a new job in Bellingham, I somewhat impulsively decided to move (Joel came too). We're living at my mom's house in Vancouver for awhile, until we make enough money to move to Portland. Later this month I'll be starting a part-time job as a sexual assault educator.

For now, I'm spending a lot of time being domestic in suburbia. Taking my dog on walks and playing ping pong while the cats try to interfere. Making dinner for my mom and sister when they get home from work/school. Reading through elementary school journals. Trying to convince my family that brewing kombucha isn't gross.

My blogs for the next few months will probably consist of detailed descriptions of the food I'm making with all my free time, and maybe a few rants about the absurdities of suburbia.

Vegetable Broth

I can't believe I didn't start this sooner. There is absolutely no excuse for buying veggie broth from the store when I use as many vegetables as I do.

Here's what you do:

1. Collect all of your vegetable scraps for a week (onion peels, garlic ends, broccoli stalks, pepper stems...) Keep them in a covered container in the fridge.

2. At the end of the week, put all the scraps in a covered pot with water. Add a little salt and thyme or oregano.

3. Let the pot simmer for an hour and a half (it makes the kitchen smell so nice).

4. Strain the broth.

Voilà! I'm going to use the broth for a soup, but you can also freeze it and use it later.