Cherry Oranges

I got this from Yogurt Land a couple of years ago. It's fun party food. If you're not a delicate person, this might be hard for you. You can freeze a few for a different texture.
People get confused thinking they are orange wedges but upon closed inspection they aren't.

Orange Agar Oranges:
3 Oranges, plus juice
1 1/2 teaspoon agar powder
1/3 sugar
1 extra cup of liquid (try cashew milk for an orange creme sickle, or more orange juice.)

Cut the oranges in half and juice them.
Pull the extra stuff out. This is the hard part. Be gentle with the skins and set aside.
Put the juice in a pot, along with the extra 1 cup of liquid.
Bring the liquid to a boil, along with 1/3 cup suagr and 1 1/2 tsp. agar-agar powder.
Put the hollowed out skin in muffin tins.
Pour the juice into the orange rinds and let cool in the tins to keep them up right.
Once they have firmed up, cut them in half and serve.

Fudge

I've been told the type of fudge I make isn't really fudge, it's something else. Real fudge is heated to a specific tempture. I'm not very good at candy making, the soft ball and hard ball stages are things I always second guess myself on. So the following semi-recipe is what I use when I want to make something super sugary.

Fudge:
1 bag chocolate chips
1 cup earth balance
4 cups powdered sugar
vanilla or other extracts.

Melt the earth balance and chocolate chips - remove from heat, add the powdered sugar.
If it's too thick add a splash of soy milk or other liquid. If it's too wet, add more powdered sugar.

This is an easy recipe to throw in dried fruits or nuts, which I did for my other batch.
Another great thing to do is to use coconut oil in place of the earth balance and use some coconut flavoring. Then sprinkle with coconut.

The batch shown below is normal fudge, with a bit more vanilla and a separate layer of vanilla with vanilla paste to get the black flecks.
My camera is on the way out so taking photos has been frustrating. Luckily, if there can be when you're a blogger and your camera goes, the damage was done during my bike accident so the insurance will help me with a new one.
Speaking of biking, of lack there of - I am saving money on food by not biking. I don't need to eat as much since I am no longer biking 1o plus miles a day. The down side is that I have to pay for and take the bus along with no longer getting my exercise. My arm better heal quickly. Thanks for all the well wishes!

Soups

Since my bike accident, I've barely been cooking. I've been able to eat out more. My injuries were worse than I first thought - a sprain and possible hairline fracture in my arm bone - no wonder it hurts all the time! I am so glad that Bone Up now makes a vegan formula, too bad they haven't changed their name.

To comfort myself from the pain, the lack of riding my bike, the pain of paying for the bus and
the recent Portland Fall weather - I've been making soups. Soups are dishes that rarely require recipes. They are usually just lots of ingredients thrown together to make a delicious food I can spoon out of a bowl with one hand.

Black eyed Peas and Greens:
This was nice and smoky soup with the inclusion of liquid smoke. The caramelized onions helped make a great broth along with some blended roasted eggplant. I added a few ripped up pieces of field roast slices. Very filling.

Vegetable Soup:
Lots of zucchini, onions, garlic, carrots, cubes of eggplant and chickpeas.

Hearty Breakfast Mush:
Blended steel cut oats, cream of wheat, cashew milk and flax seed. All topped with a spoonful of peanut butter, brown sugar and dried blueberries.


Fall Cake:
My friend Joe just got back from hiking the Pacific Crest Trail and he needs fattening up so I made a cake. One layer is chocolate chai and the other is a vanilla nut spice layer. In between in a sweet cashew fluff layer and topped with two layers of chocolate ganache.