Ok, i know i never post real-food stuffs here, and its mostly just for sweets (hence the “sugar” in the blog name)…
BUT…
today i made a very delicious little dinner and had to share it with the world. The impetus for sharing this is mostly to mention/reiterate how AWESOME
Vegetarian Times magazine is. The recipes i used were based on some from the last couple of issues. Me being me, of course i changed some things to suit my fancies AND my on-hand ingredients.
Ginger Tofu with peanut sauce & veg fried rice…mmmm….

ANYWAY…if you don’t yet have a subscription, i highly recommend you get one. mine was a gift from Billie, who, as i have mentioned on numerous occasions, totally rocks.
They also have vegan dessert recipes in every issue.
Thank God.

I heart you Veg Times!
ha.

I really should stop blogging the same treats repeatedly. But some things are just too good NOT to make continuously.
Lolo’s Vegan Donuts are DEFINITELY one of these. I swear they are more delicious every time I make them!

A few years ago, the members of my household had a seriously guilty semi-addiction to what we called LCD’s. In normal-speak this translates into “little chocolate donuts”. Here is the SERIOUSLY guilty part. We would get them at the…gas station. You know, those tiny chocolate covered ones that contain about 400 ingredients, 360 of which are chemicals you’ve never heard of? WELL, yeah. They are pretty delicious when in the refrigerator and with tea. BUT, they are clearly the worst thing for you. Then…ENTER this recipe into my life.

I can now make my very own lcd’s, and feel good (or at least mostly good) about what goes into them! Not to mention that the type of chocolate covering them can match the sassiness of my mood.

Anyway, yesterday was my friend Rachel Kolar’s (of
True Blue Tattoo in Austin, if you’re in need of one she rules!) Birthday. It was also the democratic debates in Austin, and we were showing them at
The Side Bar.
Anyway, I whipped up some glazed and some chocolate mini-donuts for Rachel, and she was psyched! She even left me a myspace comment that said, “yay birthday doughnuts! i need to get on some kind of weekly donut subscription plan or something…by the way, they are almost all gone already, jason and oscar love them too! xoxox

I’m so glad she liked them. I’m even more glad that Lolo is such a genius and has saved me from gas-station-donut-heaven/hell.

You really should stop reading this and get baking!

Remember on Tuesday when I wrote that Billie and I had concocted a most delicious new cookie recipe? Well, I also mentioned that I would post pictures. So…voila…

The first batter we test-ran wasn’t perfect. It definitely took a little playing around. However, it ended up being delicious enough that I probably could have eaten the entire batch. I will not be posting the recipe since we haven’t decided what we will do with the ones we create. There may be a super duper DIY cookbook in the cards someday. You know how these things go.

On a different note, I’ve been really into researching food photography lately. It’s pretty interesting really, and I think with each photo, I get a tiny bit better. I am not a photographer (ahem…clearly!) and I’m not really even all that interested in photography itself. But I really do find food photography (and probably more specifically food STYLING to be extremely fascinating). I mean, FOOD STYLING? Come on…that’s got be an AWESOME job.

Ah well…it’s really late at night and I just got home from work. But somehow, writing about food seemed more important than going to bed.

Wow. I guess I’ve been baking a lot lately.
That’s a good thing.

I’m not so much a holiday person. I like other people’s birthdays, because it’s an excuse to make a cake. The best part of any holiday, i think, is that it brings with it a built-in theme for treats.

I’m usually pretty anti-vday. It’s nothing personal toward love. The whole thing just seems really forced. Pressure no matter what. If you’re in love, there is the pressure to celebrate correctly, with the right dinner, the right flowers, the right gifts. If you’re not in love, that fact seems to be crammed down your throat all day long. My dislike of the holiday doesn’t hinge on whether i fit into one category or the other. I’m just not into it. Call me a cynic if you want…I think it’s just one more excuse to make people feel like they should buy things. consumerism. you know. SO…instead, I think people should MAKE their gifts. now THAT says love.

BUT, as i mentioned before, i DO like a theme. So in the interest of honoring a theme…I made some black heart (all hail joan jett!) valentine cupcakes.

They are actually pretty tasty…let me tell you why!

The cupcakes are maple and toasted almond. Light in texture and you can definitely taste the toastiness of the almonds. The frosting is maple almond buttercream as well. The maple and almond are very subtle in the frosting though, which i like.

So there, i celebrated.

Happy anti-valentine’s day!

I am constantly making banana bread in some form. We all know this by now. You’d think I would get more creative with my dying bananas. But banana bread is my very favorite thing ever, so I keep on the keepin’ on!

Not sure if I have mentioned before that I bought my friend Ryan’s pro-sized kitchen aid mixer for an awesome price a few months ago? BUT, I did. And up until now, I have had NO space for it on my counter. The other day, however, my microwave died. I have been at odds with microwaves forever, and didn’t own one until a couple years ago when some friends had one they were getting rid of and gave it to me. WELL, the other day said microwave shit the bed, so to speak. This small inconvenience was actually a blessing in disguise. Because NOW i have room on my counter for my beloved mixer! Who’s excited? Moi!

I rarely put recipes on this blog. Not really sure why. So here’s the standby banana bread recipe I use most often. I like them better as mini-loaves. or mini-muffins. or anything mini, for that matter. But of course, it tastes great in a normal sized bread pan too!

1/2 C. softened margarine
1 C. evaporated cane juice sugar
Ener-G egg replacer for 2 eggs
1 C. mashed banana (about two medium sized overripe ones)
2 C. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 C. chopped pecans (optional, but delicious)

Directions: Preheat oven to 350.
Cream together margarine and sugar.
Add the egg replacer in and beat until smooth (with a handheld mixer, or a counter top mixer). Blend in mashed bananas.
In a second bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and nuts.
Add half to banana mixture, stir until moistened.
repeat with second half of dry ingredients. do not overmix!
Bake in greased loaf pan for 1 hour.
(if you’re baking in mini-loaf pans, or mini-muffin pans, it will obviously take much much less time. keep an eye on it!)

most delicious when enjoyed with tea!

ps: as soon as billie sends me the pictures of the cookies we made the other day, i will post them.