Preparing a Fresh Pumpkin

Canned pumpkin is a quick alternative to fresh but once you have fresh pumpkin the canned stuff just won't cut it. It is easy to prep a pumpkin the oven does most of the work! And here is what you have to do!

1. Cut a pumpkin in half and take out the seeds. You want just the pulp to cook so any of those little stringy things remove as well

2. Place pumpkin on baking sheet and cook at 330 for about 80 minutes, more or less depending on size. You know it is done when you can easily stick a butter knife in to the thickest part.

3. Let it cool it will be very hot and will collect steam under the skin! After the pumpkin is cooled remove the skin by peeling, it will come off very easily. Make sure you get it all off.

4. Either with a hand or stand mixer beat well until smooth and use as you would the canned stuff. So much more tasty!

pre-mixed

about half mixed

Tomato Sauce from Scratch

Okay so the only thing I didn't do here is grow the veg, but everything else was done by me and although it is a bit time consuming the results are delicious! And the crock pot does most of the work anyway, about 12 hours of it! This is a big recipe it is meant for a big gathering or to freeze and use when needed. It freezes well and is great for a quick meal!

Ingredients:

• 10 pounds of fresh tomatos, I like roma because they have less water content, but feel free to use your favorite type

• 1 red bell pepper minced

• 2 large minced purple onions

• 3 scallions chopped

• 5 to seven cloves of garlic (you can add more or less depending on your love of garlic)

• 3 12 ounce cans of tomato paste

• fresh oregano

• fresh marjorm

• fresh basil

• 1 tbsp sugar

• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Boil water to pour over tomatos to slip the skins, this is the process of removing the skins of the tomato because they become stringy in the sauce. I use my sink and put the hot water over the tomatos and let them sit, you might hear a small pop, but you can tell when they are ready by the skins becoming loose and easy to remove.

tomatoes in water, not ready to be slipped

Next it is time to remove the skins and cut the tomato into quarters removing where the stem was attached as well.

believe it or not this part goes pretty fast!

Remove any excess water by squeezing the tomatoes and place in your crock pot on low. And now it is time to prepare your veg! Mince the onions and pepper press or mince the garlic cut the scallions and mince the fresh herbs.

some of my progress here!

Add everything but the seasoning and the tomato paste to the crock pot.

added (sorry it is dark)

About two hours in add your first can of tomato paste and then the other two about three hours later. Add the herbs and seasoning at about hour nine and do not over salt! Tomatoes love salt and will suck it up fast add a bit then stir well then taste then add more if desired. When you get the flavor you want take an immersion blender and blend to the texture wanted, I like a thicker sauce but some really like the sauce to be thin with no noticeable veg in it.

in the process of blending!

super yum!

The Halloween Munchies!

So I had a little party for Halloween and it was all vegan except for the bees wax in some of the chocolate candy I made. The centerpiece of my munchies was the cake. It was a pumpkin walnut pound cake (the skull) and a vanilla walnut cake for the base, with a vegan butter cream frosting!Here are some pictures!

before it was on its base on the table!

yum yum give me some!

I am a total slacker!

I have no excuse on why it has been so long sense I posted but I need to get back into the swing of things! I am going to start posting some pictures and not recipes yet! I have been taking a Wilton cake decorating class with a great teacher Zoe! A link to her Facebook page is here!
http://www.facebook.com/cakedecorating

And here are some of my fun designs from our classes!

cupcake day: vegan cupcakes with a vegan butter cream frosting!

This was my favorite one!

This was the base for my final cake...

This is my final! It is supposed to look like a Day of the Dead skull

I added a bunch of leaves because they are my favorite thing to make!

Thanks Zoe!

Boiled Peanuts

I am a sucker for these salty treats! What I think I like most about them is experimenting with the recipe, to add a little kick to the traditional boiled peanut recipe! When I was first offered a boiled peanut I was a bit scared, it looked kind of puffy and wet, not what I was used to in the world of peanut consumption! But after trying them I was hooked! The nut inside never become soggy just delicious.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups raw peanuts

• 5 cups water

• 1/3 cup kosher salt

• 1 tbsp cayenne pepper (optional)

Directions:

Add the peanuts to the salted water and bring to a boil then add the pepper stir and reduce heat to low, cook for three to four hours stirring occasionally.

just to a boil and pepper added

after being cooked for about an hour

Taste after three if the nuts are not the correct texture and flavor keep cooking if desired at this point add more cayenne pepper for an extra kick!

finished and yum!

Fruit and Yogurt Pie

This is a great summer pie, it is easy it keeps well and it is light! The only problem I have found with it is that you have to really drain the yogurt to make it more like a custard constancy.

Ingredients:

• 9 full graham cracker sheets

• 3 tbsp vegan butter

• 32 ounces of vanilla or plain soy yogurt

• 2 plums sliced

• 1 peach sliced

• 1 strawberry sliced

• 7 or so blackberries

Directions:

The yogurt:

Drain in cheese cloth over night in the refrigerator. The yogurt will loose its water and become much thicker and this is the base of your pie!

The crust:

In a food processor grind the crackers up to a very fine consistency,

crackers processed

melt butter and mix with the crackers. Press into a pie plate, and bake at 300 for 9 to 11 minutes. Let chill.

fresh out of the oven!

The pie: Place yogurt in the crust do not blend to much keep it as stiff as possible. Arrange sliced fruit in any pattern you please!

Ready to enjoy!

Cherry-Gooseberry Pie

The season on Gooseberries is so short you need to grab them when you see them. They freeze well but are not commercially grown it is always in my experience a local independent farmer what brings them to market. A good Gooseberry is tart and firm, they make a great counterpoint to a sweet fruit like a Cherry! This particular pie is one of my all time favorites because of all the wonderful flavors in it. I am a fan of the tartness of the Gooseberries if you want a sweeter pie add more sugar or sweetener of your choice. This pie crust is an old family recipe made vegan by me commercially prepared pie crusts are available for people that don't have the time to make their own but I promise mine is much more tasty so try your hand at it and let me know what you think!

Pie Crust Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups of unbleached flower

• 3/4 cup cold vegan butter

• 1 tbsp sugar

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 9 tbsp ice water

Directions:

Before you start chill everything even the dry ingredients. I use my kitchenaid mixer for this recipe but you can do it by hand or use a food processor as well. Mix all dry ingredients together until well mixed. Add a small amount of the butter about a tablespoon mix until there are lumps in the dough then add another tablespoon until butter is all mixed in. The dough should be lumpy. Then add the ice water one tablespoon at a time until water is all added. Dough should be cold and a bit tacky. Do not over work the dough, it will get very gummy. After dough is mixed place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes but up to an hour if you are not pressed for time. Remove dough and place on a floured surface to roll with rolling pin, its best to dust the rolling pin as well. Roll to about 1/3 inch thick place in bottom of your 9' pie pan.

the crust rolled out

Filling:

• 1 1/2 quarts cherries pitted (there are gadgets that stone your cherries for you in all the kitchen stores, but I am a fan of a large paper clip sanitized, and bent into an S, these are the easiest for me to work with, and take up a lot less room than a big cherry stoner)

• 1 quart gooseberries

• 1/4 cup sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 3 tbsp flour (as a binding agent)

these cherries are pitted!

gooseberries added

Directions:

Mix sugar and vanilla together well, add the cherries and gooseberries, mix well. Place in large pot on low heat for about 10 minutes, this will release the juices in some of the fruit, add the flour and stir well, be careful not to break any of the fruit. Place in pie dish over rolled out dough.

ready for the oven!

For lattice work cut remaining dough in 1/2' strips and weave over top of pie. The leaf pattern in the middle was done by eye using left over dough, not necessary but pretty! Bake at 400 for about an hour or until berries are soft when poked and crust is a golden color.

Done and yum!