So today marks a month since I moved into my new place and the work in fixing it up is almost done. Last weekend’s project was to give all the windows and screens the wash it looks like they were never subject to since being installed.
I’ve also been particularly social as of late, and that means much baking. First, there was the queer picnic for which I volunteered. Everything was vegan and gluten-free. I made cinnamon roll doughnuts, maple doughnuts, and Scottish shortbread.
For the last one I substituted butter for Earth Balance (vegan butter) and the flour was Red Mill’s All Purpose gluten-free flour. I also made brown sugar via my usual approach of combining molasses with white sugar.
Then for the day of the Pride parade, I had a group of friends congregating at my place. So I put together cupcakes with balls of chocolate cookie dough in their centre. This was also vegan and gluten-free, substituting ingredients from the original recipe accordingly. Half the portions of the original recipe were used.
I ran into two doughnut recipes that I wanted to try for myself. So I baked miniature chocolate glazed doughnuts and large whole wheat cinnamon sugar doughnuts. Both were good but the latter was especially tasty – I’ll keep that one in mind when I want to make doughnuts using the larger size mold. I used sour cream instead of the greek yoghurt called for by the recipe.
When a friend came over from the coast guard, we made carrot cake balls. They happened to also be vegan and gluten-free, and were quite yummy! The ingredients were simple too – an apple, a carrot, currents, honey, coconut flakes, cinnamon and nutmeg.
The chocolate dip didn’t quite work – I think in retrospect it might have been better to apply it immediately rather than let it sit for some minutes. So the presentation looks pretty bad, but the taste means I won’t hesitate to make these again one day.
Hanging out with another friend, we made gouda and garlic butter pull-apart bread as well as blueberry pies with an apple “crust.”
With yet another pair of friends – yes, baking is a great activity – we made margarita sandwich cookies. We veganized the recipe, using 1/4 cup apple sauce instead of an egg, vegan margarine instead of butter for the cookies, and vegan cream cheese instead of butter for the frosting.
On my end, I’ve also been doing a bit of cooking exploration.
A coworker friend gave me a Magic Bullet, and I used it to make my first creamy soup of the butternut squash variety. It was so simple, yet easily among the top three things I’ve ever prepared. I had a grilled vegetable wrap at a restaurant the other day, it was delicious, so I decided to attempt my own. That kind of stuff.
