Fall is in the Air!

Every year I look forward to the Apple Tasting at the Portland Nursery. This year I ropped Jess into going with me. It was a wonderful way to kick off fall. Every year I've been it's been held on beautiful, sunny days where the sun is warm and the shade is cold. Unfortuntally, Portland doesn't have many of these type of fall days that I grew up with, but yesterday was one of them.

The follow is how we celebrated.

Pumpkin Pie
1 box of silken tofu
3/4 cup sugar
1 can pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla
pumpkin pie spices to taste

Blend in blender until smooth. Pour into premade crust and bake for about 1 hour at 400F.


Simple Maple Salad
Salad greens and other veggies of choice (I used shredded carrots, thiny sliced onions, lettuces)
1/2 pear chopped
1 Tbl. maple syrup
1 Tbl. balsamc vinegar
pepper

Mix and serve.
Toasted nuts and other fruits are also a nice touch to this dressing.


Roasted Veggies
Any random veggies you need to get rid of. Looks like I used potatoes, leeks, onions, carrots, winter squash. All mixed with olive oil, garlic and some rosemary.
The special touch to this simple dish was adding roasted kale on top. I just baked 4 leaves until crispy. Once the veggies were done I sprinkled the dry leaves on top. It added a nice depth to this dish and put some leafy greens into a roasted dish.



Apple Strudel
Totally inspired by the apple tasting.
Many sheets of phylo.
2-4 apples
powdered sugar
olive oil.

Lay a couple of phylo sheets down, spraying olive oil between each sheet. Layer on sliced apples, sprinkle with powdered sugar. Repeat a few times. Fold/roll phylo once the apples are done to make a latice across the top.
Bake about 20-30 min at 350F.
Once out of the oven coat in vanilla frosting.

A simple dessert that only looks fancy.


Lentil Soup
I wanted a brothy soup and found a quick way to use up those left over roasted veggies.

Boil left over roasted veggies for 30-60 minutes.
Strain veggies and add 1/2 to 1 cup of lentils, depending on how much liquid you added to your veggies.
Add salt and pepper to taste. let look until the lentils are tender.
Garnish with shredded carrots and chopped chives.


I've updated the cupcakes I've worked on. Check out this post for new pictures.

Cupcakes Galore!!!

14 different cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.
I was a tester for the cookbook so I made most of these many moons ago.

Taramisu
These were so simple to make, and the flavor was intense. These will be made again for personal enjoyment as well as a party pleaser.













Boston Creme Cupcakes.
















Creme goodness on the inside!
















Chocolate Mint Cupcakes.
Easily one of my favorites. I was surprised by how perfectly the mint and chocoltae were matched.














Simple Vanilla Cupcakes.
Baked in ice cream cones with a lemon frosting.



























Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate Mousse.
In the back gound is a 'Smores Cupcake.













Coconut Lime Cupcakes.
Another of my all time favorites!



Lemon Ginerbread Cupcakes.
Unfrosted but later frosted with lemon icing.














Dulce Sin Leche Cupcakes with Coconut.
These were SO sweet and left a sticky mess everywhere they went.














Orange Pudding Cupcakes.
If I were to make these again I would omit the filling because it just takes so much time to do that step. But if someone else wanted to do it for me....
The jam under the ganache is perfect!











Chai Cupcakes.
These are perfect for those who don't like super sweet treats.














Can you name this cupcake?
I forget what this is.




























Peanut Butter with Chocolate Ganache.
No photoshopping required when it's in your belly!










Fauxtus Cupcakes.
Possibly the cupcake that started the madness.














Marblers
Vanilla and chocolate swirled cupcakes with vanilla frosting and shaved chocolate.













Jelly Doughnut Cupcakes:

Mac and Bleu Cheese

I bought this expensive cheese at Food Fight and have been using it so slowly. My choice of bleu cheese is because I was never able to eat it as a non-vegan because I am allergic to molds. Next I will try out the moz.
This is a wonderfully rich food. I was able to cut down the sharp flavor but still give a sense of it.

Mac and Bleu Cheese:
1 cup soy milk
1 cup shredded bleu cheese from Scheese.
1/4 cup tofutti cream cheese
1 Tbl. Nutritional yeast
salt and pepper to taste

8 saltine crackers

8 lasagna noodle, broken (or other pasta that you need to use up.)

1 large tomato

1. Cook pasta as normal
2. Bring the first 4 ingredients to a boil in a medium sauce pan, then reduce until it is all melted. add salt and pepper to taste.
3. Chop tomato into bits.
4. Drain pasta and rinse with cool water.
5. Mix pasta and scheese mixture until evenly coated. Add tomatoes and mix a bit more.
6. Press into 9x9 pan and sprinkle with crushed crackers.
7. Bake for 30 min 350F
8. Let cool, serve and enjoy!