Scribbles and Scrambles ~ Fowl Score and Twenty...

Slightly odd happenings and happenstances over the Thanksgiving weekend.

A) Settlers of Catan. A favorite game. Kind of like Monopoly/Pit and not sure what else. You build little wooden empires. Usually, I lose. I'm pretty sure I can count my wins on one hand and I've played it a few dozen times. Pictured is one of those few times. I trounced the table of wannabe winners.

Skill? Luck? Hmmm. A little of both. And the pictured loser is one who usually eats no meat, and he succumbed to the siren call of turkey...dare I suggest it slowed him down a bit?

And he's also prone to gloating when he wins, which is frequently. His version of gloating is subtle, Tweeting about it, taking pictures. That kind of thing.

Can I resist? No. I'll be tweaking a link so he'll be sure to see it. Ha. Ha. Salt in wound, Scott. Salt in wound. You'll lay off the turkey at Christmas won't you?

B) My folks went shopping in Walnut. Home of many antiques and apparently the original Christmas Geese. They wear diapers, too. How cute is that? I'm tempted to visit just to see this is in person.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Salted Caramel Pecan Fudge Pie...

Salted Caramel Pecan Fudge Pie

Crust:

2 Cups pecans

1 Cup pitted dates

2 tsp cocoa

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

In food processor or super blender combine these items until they stick together in a doughlike clump. If too sticky to handle add a little more cocoa and a few more pecans. If not sticky enough add a few more dates. Press the mixture into a large (greased) pie pan or the bottom of two greased tart pans. If your mixture is a little weepy, just soak up the extra juice with a paper towel, I had to blot mine.

Filling

1 2/3 cups dark chocolate chips (melted)

1 pkg silken tofu (Mori Nu 12.3 oz, I used firm)

1 1/2 TBSP cocoa

1/8 tsp salt

2 TBSP agave nectar

1 tsp vanilla

1 TBSP non-dairy milk.

Mix all together all ingredients except melted chocolate. When completely mixed add the chocolate and combine until uniformly chocolate. Spoon mixture into pie shell or tart pans. Place in refrigerator.

Salted Caramel Pecan Topping

2 TBSP Earth Balance

3 TBSP brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 Cup chopped pecans (toasted are nice)

1.5 tsp cocoa powder

3 pinches of salt (about 1/16 to 1/8 teaspoon)

Melt Earth Balance, add brown sugar and heat til it bubbles and comes together, stirring constantly, turn heat down and simmer for about a minute. Add the remainder of the ingredients. Drop randomly onto the pie.

Keep refrigerated. (If you don't eat it in one sitting.)This is delicious. Totally. Every omnivore who tried it loved it, so it's not just for those freaky Vegan tastebuds.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Post Thanksgiving Recipe Round Up

A few more Thanksgiving recipes. As long as I still have a few leftovers, I can keep posting, right? & made a brown rice "stuffing" that cannot be shared with y'all. If I don't watch her and write down what she's doing the "recipe" remains in her brain alone...and not for long. Ha. Ha. But there is one more meal's worth of that bad boy... so one more recipe tomorrow. It will be worth it. Salted Caramel Pecan Fudge Pie....oh, BABY, it's amazing!


Mushroom Sage Gravy

3 TBSP Earth Balance
3 TBSP flour
1 oz package mushrooms (diced)
1/2 med or 1 small onion (small dice)
1 minced clove of garlic
4 Cups vegetable broth
2 tsp dried sage
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp salt
3 TBSP red wine vinegar


Saute onion and garlic in Earth Balance until they are carmelized. Add mushrooms and saute until tender. Add flour. When it is all mixed in and forms a paste add the veggie broth. As sauce thickens and simmers add the sage and thyme. When it gets to the consistency you want taste it. Add the vinegar, taste again, add the salt if needed. Great over potatoes or on the Chick pea cutlets. I spied a few family members drenching turkey, too. Makes about 3 1/2 cups depending on how thick you like it.

Here is a bonus. Vegan Mashed Potatoes

4 Lbs organic potatoes, large dice (leave skin on unless you hate chunky potatoes)
1 head of cauliflower (deflowered, as in cut the good stuff off the stems and get rid of the stems)
4 cloves garlic
4 TBSP vegan cream cheese
3 TBSP Earth Balance
potato water or unflavored/unsweetened non-dairy milk if needed
salt and pepper to taste.


Boil the potato chunks and garlic in a pot large enough to add cauliflower to so all can be covered in water and lidded (a dutch oven worked, a large crockpot will work too, if you are doing this the night before. If you want to use a crockpot, add the cauliflower with the raw potatoes and cook on low overnight). Add cauliflower when potatoes are nearly done. (25 minutes or so into the simmer process.)When everything is tender (45 minutes or so) turn off heat. When cooled enough to handle without danger of scalding, carefully drain, saving a cup or two of potato water. (More if you are making gravy and need it for that.) Mash all -- garlic, potatoes, cauliflower. Mash some more. It won't be smooth with the skins. And that's good. Add the cream cheese and mix it in real well. Taste, add potato water or unsweetened non-dairy milk if needed for consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste. When happy with texture and taste, mix one more time and leave three small wells on top of potatoes. Add the 3 TBSP of Earth Balance, one in each well. As people dig in the "butter" will end up on most servings. Feeds at least 15 people unless they are potato freaks. My 3 quart crockpot was nicely full.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Brrr It's Cold Outside...Soup for You...

I spent the weekend being domestic. I. E. I did a lot of cooking and began the start of some craft projects. I made a big ol' batch of Seitan (Vegan with a Vengeance version) and decided I needed to use up some onions that had decided to begin sprouting in my pantry. Here's what came out of that. 

(Happy Tail-end Side of Birthday Week to You, X-ta! Hope it's been a good one.)

"Steak" and  Potato Stew

2 Cups Potatoes small dice (3-4 potatoes)

1 TBSP Earth Balance

1 Cup Chopped Mushrooms

2 Small or 1 Medium/Large Onion

7 Cups Vegetable Broth

1/4 Cup Soy Sauce

2 Cups Small Dice Seitan

1/2 tsp Salt

1 TBSP Balsamic or Red Wine Vinegar

Melt Earth Balance in Dutch oven/soup pot) or frying pan. When hot add onions until they begin to caramelize, then add mushrooms and saute until tender. Either transfer to a crock pot (if using frying pan) or add directly to the Dutch oven the vegetable broth, soy sauce, potatoes, seitan. Simmer until the potatoes are tender. (Low 5-6 hours, high 2-3, stove top 1 hour) Taste and either add the salt or skip it. Add vinegar and serve with crusty bread.

Scraps and Snippets ~ ThanksgiVing Cranberry Citrus Apple Bake

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

I'm watching a colorful sunset and relaxing before we go to our next Thanksgiving meal. The recipes I wanted to create worked. Which is why I didn't post yesterday. Not that they worked but because I was still doing research. Or, maybe experimentation would be a better description.

I'm going to share them with you.

The first one is the:

Cranberry Citrus Apple Bake

1 1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries (you could probably use fresh with no problem)

1 Cup Craisins

5 Small Oranges (Like Clementines or Mandarins) or 2-3 larger ones.

3 TBSP Maple Syrup

3/4 Cup Chopped Pecans

6 Medium-sized Apples

1 Cup of Oatmeal

1/3 Cup Brown Sugar

Spray 9 x 13 pan. Preheat oven to 350 when ready to bake.

Mix the cranberries, craisins, Pecans and 2 TBSP of the maple syrup together. Squeeze all the oranges over the mixture, scrape out any extra pulp you want. Set aside to let the flavors marry.

Slice the apples into thin slices, you don't need to peel them. Lay the slices in the 9 x 13. Drizzle the apple slices with the remaining maple syrup, sprinkle brown sugar over that and follow with the oatmeal. Cover this with the cranberry mixture.

Bake at 350 for 45-minutes to an hour. Serves 20-24.

If you are doing Black Friday, be careful out there!!!!!

Scraps and Snippets ~ Affluenza and the Thanksgiving Season...

It is late afternoon, a late, gray afternoon. Three animals are curled up next to me. One purrs, another snores. All are blessedly warm.

And I'm hurrying to post some blog posts for the three blogs I dilly-dally around with and am feeling a sense of accomplishment, or maybe relief.

Dinner is partially ready. I've got a kitchen chemistry class tonight, and am going tomorrow to buy the rest of the food I need to create Vegan masterpieces for Thanksgiving. I don't plan to shop on Black Friday. I plan to sleep in two or three mornings this weekend.

But why do I feel a little crabby? And stressed? And overwhelmed?

My mind is already on the next few weeks and what that means. It means juggling, working, cleaning, shopping, cooking, cleaning, interacting, acting joyful. I want simple. But I don't allow myself to embrace simple. Instead, I complicate. If one is good enough, three would be incredible. But sometimes I give up at two and feel guilty.

Is this an American disease I've picked up? The dreaded affluenza? Is there a cure for it?

I've heard some sermons about words lately. Not new information. Crud. I've studied it myself. And it's not just a Biblical truth. It's a universal truth that a negative mindset breeds negative words and stinking thinking becomes the emotional equivalent to a bed bug infestation. What is the antidote to stinking thinking? This season, Thanksgiving (even though it's been completely eradicated by Christmas gloss and glitter at every store I've stepped into this week...but that's stink think) offers a huge piece of the puzzle. Gratitude.

I am grateful that today I have a few moments to breathe and catch up on a task. And I'm grateful I have a job. I'm grateful for warm animals who love me, heck, they adore me, and when I'm not tripping over, or cleaning up after them, a cuddle, a lick or a tail wag can definitely make a bad day not so bad after all. I'm grateful that I have three children who live close enough that I can see them on holidays. I love that I have been able to become friends with the grown-up versions of their special selves. I love that I have a roof over my head when some don't. I'm grateful that I have food in my freezer and pantry. I never have to worry about stretching one cup of rice or beans into three meals. My worry is what exactly I can add from my riches to make those beans and rice taste better. I have shoes. Lots of shoes. Not Imelda Marcos style, but I have more than one pair, and can always find socks without holes, too. My family is relatively healthy. No one is in the hospital. No one is currently reeling from bad news. My husband is a good man and we have a good life. We don't need for anything. Most of what we long for are wants.

Ten minutes of pondering what I'm grateful for and I already feel better.

Sigh. In and out. The air I breathe, the God who gives it to me. The sun that is hidden. The cold that has gripped the earth to slow the cycle of growth so even the ground can rest. And the signal that I am supposed to seek rest as well. Yes. I am very, very blessed.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Oh Yeah, This One Was Tasty...Asian Cranberry Slaw

On my quest to find delicious and Vegan or Veganable recipes for Thanksgiving I found a braised cabbage recipe that sounded pretty yummy. Except all the flavor came from pepperoni. Uhhh, so I put the idea of a warm cabbage slaw into my think-tank and this is what came out.

Braised Asian Cranberry Slaw.

1 Onion, small dice

2 TBSP sesame oil

1 tsp soy sauce

4 Cups Chopped Cabbage (or approx 1/2 large head cabbage, I used purple)

2 TBSP rice vinegar

1/4 teaspoon hot pepper flakes

1 TBSP sesame seeds

1/2 cup craisins

Heat 1 TBSP sesame oil in pan. Get it hot. Toss in onions and cook til browned and aromatic. Add cabbage and cook until it begins to shrink and tenderize, 3-5 minutes add soy sauce and hot pepper flakes. Stir and cook until cabbage is coated. Turn down flame and add sesame seeds, vinegar and last TBSP of sesame oil. Stir well, add craisins, stir again and serve.