Merry Christmas and Goodbye

I am feeling nostalgic this week, I think for a lot of reasons. Maybe it's because I just watched the series finale of Gossip Girl. Just kidding..sort of. :) But, this will be my last blog post on Vegan Blonde. I don't have the time anymore. But, I am doing this final post for probably my only reader, my beautiful niece, Jillian. But, Jillian...I'm going out with a bang and made 3 recipes for you!

Another reason for my nostalgia is this is my last week with my first graders and then I move up to sixth grade, which is exciting but I am sad to leave the first graders.

Last but not least, this Christmas is different. Every single member of my family lives in a different city.   Who knew that I would be the last one left in the Santa Barbara area? I never thought in a million years...But, I have an amazing Christmas to look forward to. I get to meet my new nephew Jackson David. I will spending the two weeks in Colorado for some much needed family time. Especially because of the number one reason for my sentiment. This is the first Christmas without my dad. He will be very missed.

I guess now is as good a time as ever to say goodbye to my blog and move on to bigger and better things. A bakery full of my recipes will be alive some day!

Anyways, to whoever this reaches. Happy Holidays and goodbye. :)

"Do whatever you want to do. It's nobody's life but yours." -My dad

1954-2012

Jackson 

Vegan White Chocolate Raspberry Cookies

Years ago, I had a white chocolate raspberry cookie at Disneyland. It was literally the best cookie I have ever had. I have thought about making it since. Today, I did. These are the best cookies I've ever made.

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup vegan butter, room temperature
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup vegan sugar
Egg replacer, equivalent of 2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup Raspberry Jam (store bought or homemade*)
1/2 bag of vegan white chocolate chips (http://www.veganstore.com/product/637/other-chocolates) or any vegan dark or semi-sweet chocolate chips


What to do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a large cookie sheet with canola oil.
In a separate medium bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, mix together vegan butter, coconut oil, sugar, egg replacer, and vanilla.
Add in flour mixture (mix will be very dry.)
Mix in raspberry jam until just incorporated.
Stir in vegan white chocolate chips.
Roll out onto baking sheet
Bake for 15 minutes.

*Homemade Raspberry Jam
2 cups frozen raspberries
1 cup sugar
In a saucepan, heat raspberries and add sugar. Stir for 15 minutes until boiling rapidly. After 15 minutes, set aside to cool.

Oreo Brittle

I love oreos! This is a very simple recipe that is great to give as small gifts for the holidays! The Candy Cane Joe's Oreos from Trader Joe's were out this year so I had to stick to traditional. But, I added a dash of peppermint extract to the chocolate and it was perfect! You could even crumble up candy canes and put it on the oreos as they are cooling! This easy peezy.

What you need:

Parchment paper

1 Box of Vegan Oreos (Joe's Oreos from Trader Joe's work)

2 Bags of vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips

1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract

What to do:

Lay out parchment paper

Melt chocolate in a medium saucepan and add peppermint extract. Once melted, remove from heat.

Add in oreos and mash them with a spoon. Mix it up until they are covered in chocolate.

Spread over parchment paper.

Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Vegan Fudge

I took this recipe from a website. It came out pretty well. Check it out.
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/desertrecipes/r/veganfudge.htm

Coconut Cupcakes

These cupcakes are amazing! I added a simple chocolate frosting below but you can use whatever frosting you would like!

What you need:
 2/3 cup coconut oil (heated until in liquid form)
1 1/2 cup sugar
Egg replacer equivalent of 2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/4 cup coconut milk

What to do:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a large mixing bowl, cream together coconut oil and sugar. Add egg replacer slowly and beat in vanilla.
In a separate bowl, sift together flour and baking powder. Then add the flour mix to the liquid mix. Slowly add coconut milk until combined. Cool and then frost with a frosting of your choice!
 
Chocolate Frosting ingredients:
1/3 cup vegan butter, softened
1/3 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup cocoa powder
about 2 cups powdered sugar (depending on how thick you like your frosting)

What to do:
Mix all ingredients. Add powdered sugar last. Powdered sugar is hard to measure out for frosting, so just keep adding until it's at the consistency you want.

"Giving Up the V-card" An Article from Raptitude.com

This article struck a chord with me and I thought I should post it here. Good reading!

 It’s been a year since my most successful experiment. I had given up animal-derived foods to find out what it did for my health. After 30 years of indiscriminate eating, I finally gave the ethical issue surrounding animal food some honest thought, and ended up going vegan completely.
It’s been the best year of my life, and I’m convinced veganism is a large part of that. I won’t gush about the details but I’ll say that I felt altogether better physically and emotionally and I’m never going back to the way I used to live.
However, I don’t want to call myself a vegan any more. I’m giving up my V-card.
I’m still off meat and dairy and eggs, I still won’t buy wool or leather, I still won’t use animals for my entertainment, and I wish others would do the same. But my philosophy on it is quite different than it was a year ago and I don’t want to call myself the V-word. I’ll tell you why.
The first thing you notice when you go vegan is that everyone is mad, and they tell you you’re mad. You voluntarily enter the moral Twilight Zone. You discover a grotesque inconsistency between the beliefs people express and their behavior. You realize that we’re all highly irrational, and that it’s emotion that rules culture, and culture rules the behavior of individuals. No matter how much harm it causes, nothing we do needs to be justified as long as it’s popular enough.
Ask ten people on the street if they think it’s wrong to injure or kill animals for one’s amusement or pleasure, and nine or ten will say yes, of course. Chances are all ten of those people freely consume animal products, simply because they like to and they’re used to doing it.
A new vegan also encounters a bizarre compulsion in many otherwise friendly people to talk as loudly to you as possible about how delicious and juicy steak is. A certain contempt for you emerges seemingly from nowhere, and the most polite person can be overtaken by an urge to reiterate to you that they could never give up meat, because they just “love a good steak!”, presumably the way Michael Vick once loved a good dogfight.
For the recently converted, this inexplicable pseudo-hostility from everyday people can be alarming and it often triggers the kind of inadvertently sarcastic tone you saw in the last few paragraphs [Sorry! -D]. The effect is draining and alienating, and it’s hard not to feel a vague resentment for (or at least disappointment in) the ninety-nine percent of people who have no hesitation about exploiting animals if there is something enjoyable to be found in it. 

by David  http://www.raptitude.com/2012/04/giving-up-the-v-card/

Vegan White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Blondies!

I miss white chocolate. I will admit that is one thing that I miss, being vegan. There are usually vegan substitutes that satisfy my cravings...like vegan chocolate and cashew cheese. Yet, white chocolate is hard to find. I found a great recipe recently and tried to make it. It turned out well! Although, my friend told me it didn't taste like white chocolate but she said it was good! Anyway, I love blondies. This recipe turned out great, I couldn't stop eating them!

What you need:
1/2 cup vegan butter at room temperature
1 1/4 cup sugar (I used brown sugar)
Egg replacer equivalent of 2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup vegan white chocolate (http://bittersweetblog.wordpress.com/2008/02/18/the-white-stuff/)
1 cup semi-sweet vegan chocolate
3/4 cup macadamia nuts, chopped

What to do:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add egg replacer and vanilla. In a separate bowl sift together the flour and baking powder. Mix until incorporated. Mix in chocolate and macadamia nuts.
Pour into a baking pan an smooth flat. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes.