There's a midnight sushi train and I'm on it.

I have a theory that if insomniacs became vegan there would be enough vegan food to feed all of the babies in canada for 5 years straight. I'm still developing this theory and have yet to perform any case studies but it's a thought. Point being, I love making time consuming things at late hours of the night. It's almost midnight. I made sushi. It makes me happy.

Right, so.

Prior to making those awesome pop-tarts which tempted my roomates to venture over into bad-breakfast-decision-land, I spent two whole sleepless nights researching what I thought would a) triumph over that crap you buy in the cereal aisle that has probably been sitting on the shelf for months and b) be super easy to make and require very few ingredients. The recipe that met both of these requirements is actually not vegan but that is nooooo problem when you are the bees-knees. So here it is, Peabody's Pop-Tart Recipe (veganized by Raven Bees-Knees Price):

Peabody’s Poptarts
pie crust(recipe follows)

good jam(your choice)
Glaze
Sparkling Sugar

Pie Crust
1-1/2 cups sifted flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup vegan margarine
3 tablespoons cold water
Combine flour and salt in bowl. Add shortening and margarine and blend with fork, pastry cutter or your fingers until mixture is fairly coarse. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, gently mixing dough after each addition until dough forms a ball. (Dough can also be prepared in food processor. Use the pulse button just until it starts to pull away from the sides. Be very careful not to overwork the dough.) Place dough on a lightly floured surface and roll into a square/rectangle. Cut out long strips about 2 inches wide, and 3 inches long. Repeat till you run out of dough.
Glaze:
1 cup powder sugar
soy milk to thin
Place powdered sugar in bowl. Pour milk slowly until it has a consistancy of really thick syrup.

Assemble: Take one pie crust rectangle, fill with a tsp of jam. Cover with another piece of pie crust. Crimpe all four edges. Repeat until you run out of pie crust. Bake at 450F for about 7-8 minutes or until slightly brown. Set aside to cool. Once cooled, pour glaze on to Poptart and decorate iwth sparkling sugar.

One busy vegan and the ever-lasting bag of flour.

That will be the proposed title of my life story, or maybe just the story of this month. One bag of flour apparently yields a month's worth of random crap. Pierogi, scones, cookies, cookies, cookies, pie crust, tarts, quiche, cookies. My pop-tarts are almost entirely perfected and I will probably be posting the recipe for those within the next hour, my chocolate tart could use some work, the pierogi was perfect but alas I forgot to photograph that experience *insert tragic sigh here*, anddddd cookies were just the same old boring recipes so nothing to post there. As of this second I am debating on what else should be included in this smorgasbord of a post and thinking that my hands smell of garlic. Badly. Thank you, quiche. I am thinking that within the next week I will probably make sticky buns, spanish tortilla, y una mescla de cosas que estan en mi cabeza a este minuto. Okay, quiche is done, love you, bye.

Coming soon....

A scone.

I like to describe it as a sweet and doughy version of a biscuit. Upon researching for two days I discovered that scones should traditionally be round, tall, and only slightly sweet. Shocking. I've only ever come into acquaintance with those triangle shaped sugar coated things with more sugary stuff inside that they sell at that very popular coffee place that I work at. Round, tall, slightly sweet. I can dig that. Orange style. I used Ina Garten's Cranberry Orange Scone recipe as a semi guideline for measurements and such but in the end my hands discovered my heart's own twist.

yields 12-16 scones
scones
4 1/2 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 tsp salt
1 tbsp orange zest
1 tbsp canola oil
4 tbsp margarine
2 tbsp flax eggs
1 cup soy cream

orange icing
2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 cup orange juice

- preheat oven to 400 degrees
- in a large bowl combine flour, sugar, powder, salt, and orange zest
- add margarine and mix with hands until butter is the size of peas
- add the oil, cream, and flax until blended
- place dough onto a floured surface and form into a ball
- with a floured rolling pin, roll dough 3/4" thick, and cut into circles using a cookie cutter or glass
- place scones on a pan lined with parchment paper and bake for 20 minutes, allow to cool completely before icing
- mix together the powdered sugar and orange juice until a thick goop is formed, dip each scone into the icing and place on a wire rack until the icing is set. After a few minutes dip again

Almost nearly entirely somewhat mostly moved...

save for a load of laundry at the old apartment which at this point I'm a wee bit tempted to abandon. Ooops. Who needs towels? Not I, said the dry woman. I greatly enjoy living in Norfolk and more specifically in my new house. I've lived in just about everything but a house for the past 14 something years and I am taking careful note of the feeling of real hardwood floors, a garden, a decent sized kitchen, and tons of room for our abundance of kitties. [side track] we have a garden! Tonight I enjoyed a quick lettuce wrap which featured home-grown jalapenos scattered amongst brown rice, hummus, tomato, and artichoke. [end side track] The mere fact that I am no longer physically residing on VB soil has been enough to drop my stress level drastically. The abundance of kitties helps too. This past week I wandered around nearby shopping centers and discovered 2 huge thrift markets, an antique shop, an international food market, and a small health food store. We're talking within a 10 minute biking distance. I am 10 minutes and $2.14 away from a vegan lemon poppy seed cookie and a cane sugar jamaican root beer! It's love!

Baking soon at a kitchen near you: Chocolate Pecan Pie or Pumpkin Cream Cheese Whoopee Pies

- Love, Raven

Apricot Thumbprint Cookies

For some reason these cookies remind me of sleepovers at my nana's house. That lady has an abundance of apricot preserves. What do you do with that much apricot? Bagels? Toast? Cookies! These are exceptionally fun because you're supposed to squish your fingers into them.

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup almond milk
1 1/2 tsp almond extract
1 cup apricot preserves

-Preheat oven to 350
-Combine flour, baking powder, salt, & sugar in a medium bowl
-In a separate bowl combine oil, milk, and extract. Slowly beat into flour mixture until a soft dough forms
- Lightly oil two baking sheets with cooking spray. Roll dough into 1 1/2" balls and place balls 1" apart on sheet
-Bake for 7 minutes, then quickly remove from oven and place your thumb into the center of each cookie to form an indentation. Spoon a tiny dollop of preserves into the hole. Place back into the oven and bake for another 7-10 minutes

Banana Pecan Pancakes

Any time that I come across another damned vegan pancake recipe I wince. There are probably 70000 vegan pancake recipes to weed through on the internet and only a few of them actually yield good pancakes. I came across the original version of this gem on vegweb, but did a little alterin' here and there to make it tastier. The incorporation of the banana makes these more dense than your typical pancake, but I like them that way. In hindsight, some toasted oats on top would have been a great finishing touch.

1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup almond milk
2 tbsp ground flax seed
3 tsbp water
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 ripened mashed banana
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup chopped pecans

-Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl
- In a separate bowl, mix together the wet ingredients. Mix into the dry ingredients.
- Fold in the mashed bananas and pecans. Ladle a large dollop of batter in a frying pan on medium heat. Cook until golden brown.

Was going to leave a post doting on power juicers...

but was temporarily detained and distracted by humans. Post to come soon. Ask again later. TTFN. Until then, I leave you with this.

Thai-Spiced Maki Rolls

Oh my god. That's about all that I can say. These rolls are intended to be spicy however you can easilly adjust the level to your own taste. Also, mango slices or clementines would work well in replacement of the mandarines. Nearly anything acidic and bright in flavor will do. There are many online guides on how to successfully roll sushi, cook the rice, etc. so I will not swim in that area for too long. Just the basics, my dear friends, and obviously my own thai addition.

2 sheets toasted nori

1 cup short grain rice
1 1/4 cup water
1 block extra-firm tofu
1carrot
2 mandarine oranges
4 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp curry paste
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes


The rice:
-Combine rice and water in a medium sized pot
-Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and continue to cook for 20 minutes
-Meanwhile, combine rice vinegar and sugar in a small bowl to form a solution. After rice is cooked, take off of heat and allow to sit for ten minutes until all of the water has been absorbed
-Spoon the cooked rice onto a flat surface, carefully folding in the sugar/vinegar solution. Fan the rice with a magazine or whatever you have on hand (alternate between fanning and folding).
-Once cooled, place half of the rice in the center of the nori sheet (placed dull side up), and spoon out evenly leaving only 1/2 inch of exposed nori at the end.

The filler:
- Heat 1 tsp olive oil in a pan on medium heat, add in 1 tsbp curry paste and 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes. Add in slices of tofu and cook until slightly browned.
- Slice the carrots and peeled orange pieces into sticks.
- Place the tofu, carrots, and oranges in the center of the rice and slowly roll the nori.
*As mentioned before, many guides can be found online about rolling sushi*
-Allow roll to settle for a few minutes and then cut into 4-5 large pieces

Top with peanut sauce and chopped peanuts, recipe should yield 2 rolls.

Sushi frustration.

Last night was my first attempt at sushi, and needless to say it was not the best experience. First of all, I completely forgot to buy rice vinegar and substituted with apple cider vinegar (yuck). Then I forgot to pre-rinse the rice to take off excess starch. Big mistake numero dos. My final product was a goopy sickeningly sweet mess. Next I was entirely ignorant of the fact that there are two sides to nori sheets, and that the shiny side should be face down on the rolling mat. Oooops. Perhaps I should also mention that I am an entirely-too-impatient person and should not be trusted in the production of maki rolls. *huff*. *puff*. Tonight is take two. Hopefully this session will yield photo worthy pieces, or if I'm lucky: edible pieces. What a thought.

Cowgirl Cookies

These cookies started as a vegan variation of Quaker's "Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies" recipe. I was feeling lazy and wanted to make something quick and sugar packed but then realized that I'd probably be eating them for breakfast too (which I'm doing this very second). Upon this realization, I opted for a few healthy options. I substituted normal flour for home-ground organic oat flour, added a few secret diced prunes in with the raisins, and added some nuts for protein. Who says you can't have cookies for breakfast?


1/2 cup canola oil
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup oat flour
3 cups oats
1/2 cup dried raisins
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup walnuts
2 tbsp soy milk
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
*"eggs"


-Preheat oven to 350
- To make "eggs," combine 2 tsp ground flax seed and 2 tbsp boiling water in small dish and whisk together until it reaches an egg-like consistency.
- In large bowl, combine oil, sugar, "eggs", and the vanilla.
- Gradually add in the dry ingredients and then add in the nuts, chips, and raisins.
- Drop rounded tablespoonfuls on a lightly greased cookie sheet.
- Bake 8-10 minutes

Love,
A crumb-covered Raven

Peanut Butter Cups

I assumed that these would be a fairly painful and difficult process but they were insanely easy and quick to make. I believe it took Lindsey and I about 30 minutes to make these from start to finish, and we even allowed ourselves a quick break to lick chocolate out of a bowl. MmmMMmmmm. In this recipe we used crunchy peanut butter rather than creamy, ghirardelli dark chocolate chips, and regular sugar rather than powedered. The combination of the crunchy peanut butter and the grain from the regular sugar gave us the same mouthfeel you would get from a regular reese's cup.

1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips
12 mini paper cupcake cups

- Oil the paper cups and have ready on the side.
- Microwave the chocolate chips for 2 1/2 minutes at 50% power.
- Use spoon to spread a thick layer of chocolate into the entire paper cup, making sure to get into the crevices.
- Place in freezer for 10 minutes and allow to harden.
- Combine peanut butter and sugar in a small dish and microwave until slightly melted, mix well, and spoon onto chocolate cups.
- Top with more chocolate, we found it best to fill the cups to the very very very tippy top. We like chocolate.
- Return to freezer and allow to harden once more... or not. We ate them melty too.

Asparagus & Portobello Quiche

I was admittedly skeptical of the idea of a vegan "quiche," seeing as in my dairy days I was a bit of a quiche connoisseur. I said to myself, "Self, look, there is no way that you are ever going to recreate that perfect egg and cheese consistency which is desirable in a quiche." Just when I had given up all hope I came across a decadent recipe worthy of a few seconds of drool and then made it my mission to veganize the hell out of it. Mission complete. This recipe will take a lot of time, maybe a little stress, and some cajones for the less kitchen-suavy.

For the Crust:
3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp seasalt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup soymilk
1/3 cup olive oil

For the Filling:
7 tbps olive oil (plus extra for roasting)
1 cup diced onion
2 cups sliced portobello mushrooms
1 tsp sea salt (plus extra for roasting)
3 finely diced garlic cloves
1/2 tsp thyme
1 tsp finely chopped fresh dill
1 package firm tofu (patted dry)
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsbsp apple cider vinegar
2 cups asparagus (cut into 1" pieces)
12 asparagus heads (for decoration)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes (for decoration)
1/2 cup vegan monteray jack or cheddar cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Spread sesame seeds on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 8 minutes. Drizzle the extra olive oil and salt onto the mushrooms and allow to roast in the oven for 20 minutes.
3. To make the crust, combine sesame seeds, flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, soymilk, and oil until dough is formed.
4. Brush a tart or muffin pan with oil. Place dough into the pan and make sure to fill the crevices. Trim off any excess then refrigerate.
5. To make the filling, saute garlic, olive oil, salt, and onions until slightly carmelized. Allow the garlic oil to cool.
6. Crumble the tofu into the bowl of a food processor, add vinegar, thyme, dill, "cheese," and lemon lemon juice. Puree until smooth in texture. Scrape the mixture into a bowl, add mushrooms, asparagus, garlic/onion oil, and any remaining salt.
7. Fill crust with tofu and vegetable mixture and smooth flat. Sprinkle with nutritional yeast flakes. Place reserved asparagus heads on top.
8. Bake for 45 minutes or until firm.
9. Serve hot or cold.