Lots of love and a personal challenge for 2011

MrB and I don't celebrate St Valentine's Day in any formal, traditional way. (Several years ago I told MrB that if he were to send me flowers at my office that year he'd then be off the hook for the rest of our Valentine's Days together. He sent gorgeous balloons instead, one even being a giant frog, and he was very definitely off the hook.) Instead we celebrate the anniversary of a special day in our shared history on the 13th of February each year and treat the 14th as any other day of the year, specifically trying to avoid the commercialism that surrounds it 'nowadays.

Today, though, I thought I'd share a recipe I created last month and hey! I made it heart-shaped!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Almond Cookie-Press Cookies

1 cup dairy-free margarine at room temperature (plus some for buttering baking trays)

1/2 cup vegan cream cheese

1 cup granulated/castor sugar

3 cups plain flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoons almond extract

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

Fully combine margarine and cream cheese in a medium bowl. Add sugar and cream together.

Add salt, baking powder, vanilla and almond and blend well.

"Butter" (read: coat with a thin layer of dairy-free margarine) several baking trays (this recipe makes a LOT of cookies and I forgot to count how many but I'd comfortably guess it's more than 40!) before you start pressing your cookies. I was making cookie-press cookies based on recipes/videos I'd found online and when they recommended buttering your trays before you start; I though I'd be fine to just use baking paper. Boy, was that a silly move! The cookies won't stick to the baking paper which means they won't pull away from the cookie-press which means you're pressing cookies for no good reason. Please, people, learn from my mistakes! *grin*

Using a flexible spatula, fill cookie-press with dough and choose your shape disc. I chose the disc for making heart shapes (largely because I couldn't figure out which discs made which shapes) and away I went. My cookie-press has two cookie-thickness settings so I chose to use the thinner cookie setting and I pressed once for each cookie as I wanted them to be little morsels rather than "cookies", if that makes sense.

I then baked the cookies at 200C/350F for about 8 minutes. Too much longer and they started to colour. I wanted them to just be set with a hint of goldenness.

Allow to cool on baking tray for at least 10 minutes, remove to rack to cool completely.

I can't wait to use my cookie-press again! This time I might have to use each shape disc just to see what each produces!

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I'm on a self-induced (though inspired by futuregirl's*) craft diet this year.... A Challenge, if you will, to use what I have rather than buying more and more and making less and less.

What follows are photographic evidence of why I need to make this commitment to myself, to my bank balance, to the world (- why am I such a consumer?!) but please don't judge me too harshly... I do need to organise the whole set-up (that's on my list and it starts with filing about 45 years worth of paperwork) - and get a desk chair - but I know I've got at least a year's worth of crafting in there!

Want to know the worst part?.... That's not even any of my yarn in there! There's more *gasp* in other rooms in the house (living room, closet in the bedroom, etc)!

So, I've got a list longer than I am tall of things I want to make this year with the supplies I have so I now just need to get the motivation to actually do something other than brainstorming and dreaming and coveting!

Did you know that this is the first year in three years that I haven't been to my favourite two yarn stores in London to splurge on the Rowan Yarns sales? One of these retailers reported a drop in January sales as compared to the previous two years. *sigh* I know it's not all down to me but it brings home just how much I'd been spending on craft items and not getting many, if any, craft Finished Objects out of those items.

Have you set yourself a personal challenge for 2011?

*If you get the chance, peruse futuregirl's blog a bit... She's a Crochet Badass and totally inspirational for all "makers" out there.

Laundry "spiders", cookies and other life detours...

When I started this blog it was with the intention of showing you, dear readers, what it is that I love to do and how that love affects my daily choices, especially regarding my eating habits.

What I love to do is bake. I love to bake vegan sweet goodies that people are surprised about and utterly melt over.

This blog isn't very old and yet I already have a plethora of tags that aren't at all related to baking. This, for me, is a bit annoying but completely not surprising. I've always had many "layers" in my life and having begun to share more of them here seems, now, like a natural progression.

I'm sorry if you came here wanting only vegan goodies (sweet or savoury) and aren't that entertained by the rest of me. I wish you well on your own personal journey but this is a journey that I must make and, therefore, am taking the wheel and consciously deciding that it shall be reflected in this blog. All the layers. All the Me-s I have to offer.

If you don't mind and/or enjoy seeing more of my layers; welcome! We're in for a strange and wondrous trip, indeed!

Since it's been so long since I last posted I have a few things I'd like to share today so stay tuned or tune out. Either way I've numbered them so you can skip topics (or refer back to them) as you like....

1. Laundry "Spiders"

I have long hair. Very long hair by some standards, though it's not yet as long as I'd like it (and yet, simultaneously, I wish I could sport a chic, shorter style that better befits my physical age but alas, the build of my body makes longer hair aesthetically necessary *sigh*).

Because I have long hair I end up with it everywhere. On the floors, in the shower drain, on MrB's back as he's leaving for work, worked into a knitting or crochet project. That part's a nuisance, certainly, but OK as they're in small numbers and easily contained and removed.

What utterly annoys me, however, is the little balls of hair that I find in the laundry. Every. Single. Time.

I call them Laundry Spiders and toss away several of them every time I do a wash. (The record for one load is 7. SEVEN! from one load of mostly socks.)

Am I the only one who gets these?? Surely I can't be!

What do you call them?

Do you have any hints, tips, tricks for getting rid of them? I'd LOVE to know!

2. Baking

And now for something you may or may not have been waiting for. My original Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.

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Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

1cup dairy-free margarine, at room temp
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon molasses
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (when I mix it up a little I use 1 teaspoon vanilla and one teaspoon almond)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose/plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips (or vegan carob chips)
3/4cup vanilla soy yogurt

Preheat oven to 350 F

Cream the margarine and sugar with a hand mixer until fluffy

Add the molasses and vanilla and incorporate. Add the dry ingredients to this mixture and mix until a dough forms. Fold the chocolate chips into the dough.

Drop by tablespoons onto ungreased cookie sheets or an ungreased, unlined cupcake tin. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes (my oven is -definitely- 8 minutes) until lightly browned. (Two notes: Due to their vegan status and chemistry, the cookies will not spread as much as normal cookies but that's good! Also, Don't worry about under cooking them as there's no raw eggs to worry about, though, the 8-10 minute rule, for me, leaves a cookie that's gently soft-crunchy on the outside and wonderfully soft and gooey on the inside!)

Allow to cool on baking sheets for 5 minutes then transfer to cooling rack. (At this point baking sheets can be rinsed under cold water to prepare them for the next batch.)

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I know there are a ton of other good, vegan chocolate chip cookie recipes out there and respect that they are probably very good. I only decided to invent my own recipe when I realised that most of the better recipes which yield a softer cookie contain flaxseeds/linseed and I know a lot of people have seed allergies so wanted to avoid them if I could.

If/when you make these, please do let me know what you thought of the recipe. I live for feedback and won't necessarily know I need to change something unless you tell me. Yes, you.

3. Life

Just recently (last Thursday, to be exact) I went to see a psychiatrist who has diagnosed me with Adult (Inattentive) Attention Deficit Disorder and my life has been quite strange since that moment.

I went to him thinking I had it or something akin to it (Would it really be me if I had gone to a doctor without investigating the jeepers out of something first?! I thought not.) but when he confirmed that I do, indeed, have it I can't accurately describe what I was thinking or feeling.

There was some relief, some disbelief, some shame, some anger, some fear, some impatience... gosh, the list is virtually endless.

At the suggestion of a dear friend I purchased some books by Edward M. Hallowell (Driven to Distraction and Driven from Distraction - both can be purchased from Amazon.com/.co.uk) and from what I've read so far I truly believe my life will change for the better with this diagnosis. I'm almost through the first book and it's almost as though this book was written specifically for me. Mr. Hallowell certainly seems to understand the condition (as he well should, he suffers, too).

I'm sure there will be a lot more written on this blog about ADD in the future so I'm going to stop here now that I've introduced it.

4. AOB

Stay tuned because in the next few days I'll be introducing a Tomato "Soup" recipe!

Added to the list of baddies...

As you probably know I am allergic/intolerant/sensitive to a plethora of foods which makes an "alternative" diet a bit tricky. IN an effort to streamline my life and make final decisions about what I can and cannot, will and will not eat; I dragged myself back to the allergy specialist for more testing on some foods I've been avoiding largely based on fear, cloudy childhood memories and a lack of willingness to test some of these foods and "fail" by having a potentially severe reaction.

I bought 7 tonnes of food, most of it dried, and brought the specialist The Sadist little sample bits of my fears.

After pricking my arms twelve times it was diagnosed that I am, indeed, severely allergic to some of the foods I was scared about. These are the culprits...

"Puy Style" Dark Speckled Green Lentils

Red Split Lentils

Brown Lentils

Green Lentils

Shall we just say .... all lentils? Grr, so frustrating.

On the other hand, we've learned that I'm -not- allergic to chickpeas, pine nuts, flax seeds, mung beans, aduki beans or millet!

(Sorry for the mush but the dried foods weren't conducive for testing as we couldn't guarantee that any of the allergen entered my skin. The mush ensured that it would.)

That's -fantastic- news but I must admit that some of those (along with the list of nuts OK'd at my last visit) I'm still afraid to eat because I've spent a lifetime avoiding them and thusly have almost brainwashed myself a bit. I -will- try them, I just need some time to convince myself that to do so will be OK ;)

**DISCLAIMER** I'd like to take a moment here to make this important PSA... Just because someone has a "negative" skin prick result (meaning that your skin isn't allergic to the allergen introduced) doesn't mean that you won't have something like OAS when you eat it. Consider yourselves warned/reminded.

I've been a busy little beaver doing all sorts of "chores" today... laundry, dishes, cooking two meals, assembling

and baking cookies!

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Vegan Zucchini/Courgette Cookies

Stir together in a bowl:

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup grated zucchini/courgette (I think I'll add a bit more next time)

1/2 cup canola/rapeseed oil

1 teaspoon vanilla

Sift together in another sized bowl:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

(Optional:

3/4 cup toasted, chopped pecans or walnuts

1 cup raisins)

Preheat the oven to 350 F (150 C). Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until combined. (Stir in the nuts and raisins.)

Drop spoonfuls of dough on parchment-/baking paper- lined baking sheets. Bake for 12 minutes. Remove cookies and place on wire rack to cool.

Mine, pictured above, probably look a little darker than you'd prefer in a cookie. That's because I actually set my oven hotter (by about 50 degrees C) than I should. They still taste good (they're not burned) but I will make sure I check the required temperature versus the actual temperature of my oven next time!

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After my adventures today I've declared the rest of the evening for knitting *grin*

Cookies with a sordid past

Several years ago Mr B made me some cookies that are fairly popular in Sweden called "Chokladsnitt" ("chocolate cuts") and were very yummy.

Mr B made these quite often and I normally brought them into work because it's difficult to justify two people eating an entire batch of cookies in one sitting.

When I first moved to London I was working with Her Majesty's Courts Service as Court Secretary in the now defunct* Marylebone Magistrate's Court (where Bob Marley was fined for possession of cannabis in 1977).

One of my responsibilities was with and to the Justices of the Peace. Three Justices of the Peace can sit together and hear certain types of cases here in England.

Every one of the JPs I worked with was monied to some level or another. There were even a couple of Ladies (titled, noble women, no exaggeration). One of these woman was so posh that when I spoke to her she'd look straight through me and not respond. At all. I didn't exist in her world, it seems.

She was not my favourite.

My favourite JP was a gentleman who, while not titled, had more money than god. He, unsurprisingly as we got along so well, was refreshingly down to earth.

The first time this wonderful man had Chokladsnitt he seriously proclaimed that "they simply -must- contain marijuana!" (imagine this said with a Queen's English accent) because nothing -legal- could taste that good.

Needless to say, they were a big hit and often requested.

Shortly thereafter, however, I was diagnosed with an egg-sensitivity. Total bummer as the Chokladsnitt normally contain at least one egg in most recipes (normally two if you add the pearl sugar).

It was quickly decided that we -must- discover a substitution for eggs. (I was intolerant to milk, too, but dairy-free margarine is reasonably easy to find, thank goodness.)

Eggs in recipes can be replaced by lots of things and it very much depends on the purpose of the eggs in the recipe.

For the Chokladsnitt the egg acts as a binding-agent. A few Google searches recommended using jam in place of eggs and when Mr B and I decided that we preferred cherries with chocolate...

A new star was born!

These modified Chokladsnitt have (on many occasions and in different places around the world) been baked in conjunction with the "standard" ones and by -unanimous- vote have come out as a resounding winner.

Mrs B bakes now presents Körsbär Chokladsnitt (I apologise, but because of the intricacies of the Swedish language I couldn't even -begin- to explain now to pronounce that!)

Let's call them Cherry-Chocolate Cuts or "Marijuana" Cookies (as they're known in our house).

The recipe is fast and fun. Great for a last minute treat and especially good when baking with children.

Cherry-Chocolate Cuts

500 ml (2 cups) plain flour

200 ml (just under one cup) sugar

3 tablespoons cocoa

1 teaspoon vanillin sugar (quick cheat: mix 1 drop of vanilla extract with a teaspoon of powdered sugar)

1 teaspoon baking powder

200g (7 oz or 1/2 stick) dairy-free margarine

3 tablespoons cherry jam (we prefer Morello)

Pre-heat oven to 190° C (375° F)

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl, forming a dough.

Don't do what I did here... As you can see my mixture is still very dry, very grainy. Don't mess up and use only -half- the required amount of margarine. It -will- make a difference!

This is -much- better!

Divide the dough evenly. Mr B makes six even parts while I have a difficult time dividing into thirds so just keep "halving" the dough until I get 8 even parts.

Now roll the dough into snakes. I love it when I can play with my food!

Use your fingers to press the snakes and flatten them a bit. **

Bake in the middle of the oven for about 10 minutes.

Cool completely and cut at a "jaunty" angle. (This is how they're traditionally cut in Sweden and I think it adds to their personality.)

Serve and enjoy! (Store in an airtight container/bag. These should last a good few days, given the chance!)

*Marylebone Magistrate's Court has been mostly demolished and rebuilt into a Super Court. I worked in it in 2005 when it still had strange staircases, a diving board, tiles from the old bath-house and a "haunted" cell area.

**Please don't mind the gloves, they're there for two reasons that are, really, one in the same. I have very very sensitive skin. Because of this and eczema and psoriasis -I- feel my hands have aged prematurely. This is a source of major embarrassment for me and you'll never find a picture of me that -I- have posted/shared that shows my hands because of it. Also, I am allergic to most foods when raw. I can handle some "simple" salad-type veggies normally, but even then I have to be careful when getting them on my hands.

Besides, it's just so much more hygienic wearing gloves in the kitchen.

Busy times abound.

Often, when I read/follow someone's blog I love when they update/post about once or twice a week.

Following a blog that posts every day can be a bit daunting to keep up with (I follow quite a few!) but I often want to prod some bloggers along when they haven't posted in a while and I want to know what they're up to.

I'm believing my happy medium is about a post and a half a week to read but I'm not sure where that leaves me when it comes to posting.

(If you'd like to hear from me more often, please do let me know!)

I've been busy working, planning my after-work activities and realising that I will be unemployed for over a -month- before I even start looking for something else to food on put the table.

(Anyone want to place an order for something sweet for the second week in August? *smile*)

Here's the Saroyan I'm knitting (for myself) in Rowan Handknit Cotton in the Ice Water colourway.

I am so in love with this pattern and am thinking about making the Travelling Woman from the same series but I have to decide if I want to make it for myself or try to find someone knitworthy of it.

I've also tried my hand at making and iced sugar cookies.

OK, so the making of the cookies wasn't challenging but making them Vegan-Friendly was experimental as was the icing and "flooding" of said morsels.

I should have made the green (yes, that is the faintest of green on those cookies. Please click on them to see them bigger) a bit darker to highlight the white icing a bit more.

I had a LOT of fun considering it was my very first experiment and I think I have the recipes -almost- perfect.

They're very tasty, I must say, even though I don't have a sweet-tooth! (Especially the "Test Gookie". Yes, that's what it said but not what I had intended to write. I obviously need to practice my Cs and handwriting-on-cookies in general!)

I can't wait to get good enough that I can do full orders of cookies for someone's celebration!

In other news:

I made some more cake balls (new recipe) for a friend who is a royal pain in the bum! (OK, he's not. He's truly very sweet but he annoys me because he won't let me -properly- thank him for things that he does. Hrm, sounds a bit like "pot", "kettle" and "black" so I'll let it go at that).

I had written said friend an IOU (though I had to translate it as, oddly, "IOU" doesn't immediately translate in Italian. Who'd've thought!?) and made him a dessert of his choosing, hence chocolate cake balls. LOTS-of-chocolate chocolate cake balls.

July/August is going to be very busy in the lives of Mr and Mrs B so if we've made arrangements to meet up; please remind me/let me know when suits as itineraries are fast filling up!

One closing thought: Can you explain this?

Every time I scroll down a website/page to read/see what's on it; I -always- then scroll back to the top (or use CMD and the Up arrow to take me to the top of the page) before I can/will navigate away. WHY?! Every time I do it it annoys me but I never remember until I've done it and I'm annoyed!