New Year Travel Resolutions

2009 has already been flying by! I don't know where the days are going, I've been keeping busy, busy, busy. Looking to the future, I'm planning two exciting getaways. In February, I'll be going to the Riviera Maya for some fun in the sun and to complete four open water dives so that I can finally finish my SCUBA certification. In July or August I'm (hopefully) going to Australia!!! It has been a life goal of mine to see the Great Barrier Reef since I did a report on Australia when I was in third or fourth grade. I hope 2009 is the year I cross that off my list!

Totally unrelated, but deliciously vegan, I finally went to Babycakes and tried some wheat, soy, and refined sugar free cupcakes and a spelt flour, agave-sweetened cinnamon roll. They had a "different" taste in that they weren't too sweet. I'd definitely go there again if I was in the neighborhood. While I like the cupcakes and cinnamon rolls I make in my kitchen better, there's something appealingly healthy about these treats. I look forward to their cookbook, apparently coming out soon.

Favorite Vegan Things of 2008

I've been thinking about all of the wonderful things that I've experienced in 2008. I've traveled to some pretty amazing places and I've eaten some delicious vegan food! Here is a list of my favorite vegan things of the year, in no particular order:

• Vegan blogs. Although I knew of their existence for a while, this is the year I really started reading them (and writing one!). It's so fun to see all of the inspiring food pics and to read about everyone's vegan experiences, whether they're product or restaurant reviews or travel accounts.


• Kauai. This trip inspired me to start my blog. Though I've traveled to many cities and countries around the world, I've only recently started to vacation to tropical places. My worst fear was to get stuck on a boring island with nothing to eat. This was so not the case with Kauai, a vegan paradise!


• Chickpea cutlets from Veganomicon. So easy, so good.

• Mini coconut milk ice cream sandwiches and ice cream bars from Turtle Mountain. YUM!!!

• Vegan Cajun etouffee sauce. A recent discovery, I didn't even know what etouffee was until my trip to New Orleans.

• SCUBA diving. I'm not officially certified yet, but I will be soon. Breathing under water is scary and awesome. I'm hooked!

• Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World took over my kitchen in 2008.

• Humpback whales, sea turtles, and monk seals. It was an unforgettable experience hanging out with them!

I'm sure there's a billion more things I could add to the list, but I'm going to stick with this. Happy New Year's Eve everyone!

Beach-Inspired Vegan Cupcakes!

These cupcakes were inspired by the beach! They're chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting. I dyed some of the frosting blue-green and surrounded it with "seafoam". To top it off, I sprinkled some chocolate sprinkles on the top (we have a lot of dark mussel shells scattered around the beach in NJ, and the sprinkles kind of reminded me of them). I also made little whelks, scallops, and sea stars out of marzipan (a sugar-y almond paste). They tasted great and were fun to eat! Here's a closer look: ...and another angle:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cupcakes and Ice Cream

I followed the Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World recipe for peanut butter cupcakes and chocolate buttercream frosting, then topped them with peanuts. They were so sweet and rich, I just love the magical combination of chocolate and peanut butter!

Using the idea for frozen yogurt from Hannah Kaminsky in VegNews, I made ice cream with soy yogurt instead of soy milk. I added a package of Dr. Oetker's chocolate pudding mix to the yogurt in my ice cream maker, then I put in some extra cocoa powder and about a half a cup of peanut butter. The texture came out great, much creamier than it normally gets when I use soy milk. The taste, however, was just OK...it had a slight tangy after taste which not even the chocolate and peanut butter could totally erase. The frozen soy yogurt idea would be best for flavors that could handle the tangy after taste, like maybe lime or a berry flavor.

Next time I think I'll stick to soy milk, which doesn't have an after taste. Since I liked the texture the soy yogurt gave the ice cream, I'll make the Dr. Oetker's pudding first, getting a thick consistency, then freeze it in the ice cream maker after letting it cool in the refrigerator (I usually just throw it all in the ice cream maker since I don't have the patience to let the pudding cool first!).

I'll post more vegan cupcakes soon (red velvet cupcakes and sea creature-inspired cupcakes!).

Vegan Cupcake Mania

I've become obsessed with vegan cupcakes. I blame Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. This was my Earth Day batch (blue and green!). They were so flippin' good it was hard to believe that I made them! It's really not the healthiest obsession, but rest assured I didn't eat them all! In fact, I find with cupcakes, it's more fun to make and share them than it is to eat them. Yes, I like one or two and I definitely like eating the leftover batter, but it's more fun to share my little artistic vegan and partially organic creations than it is to eat myself into a sugar-induced coma. I'll be making more soon!

Rosewater Pistachio Cupcakes

The other day I followed the Rosewater Pistachio Cupcake recipe from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. The food-grade rosewater came from Wegman's and the pistachios came from Whole Foods. I made it with rosewater glaze instead of rosewater buttercream frosting, since I didn't have any confectioner's sugar. The results were scrumptious!!! Licking the extra batter out of the bowl was probably the best part. It doesn't have an overwhelming flower-y thing going on, it's just a hint of rose and a subtle crunch from the pistachios. Here they are fresh from the oven:

Vegan Culinary Adventures

Golden Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Mousse FrostingI have just made my first batch of vegan cupcakes from the book Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, and I am in cupcake heaven! They are light and sweet and the perfect combination of vanilla-chocolatey goodness. And, I didn't even have the proper amount of vanilla (totally ran out mid-recipe) or a sifter, which they recommend to aerate the flour. They still came out awesome!

On an Isa Chandra Moskowitz-authored recipe binge, I also made vegan ricotta cheese (from Vegan with a Vengeance), stuffed it into some shells, topped it with Veganrella and some tomato sauce, and made a delicious dinner.

Not so successful was my first attempt at homemade vegan ice cream the other day. It came out like a thick shake, at best. I didn't really follow any recipes, I kind of made up my own, and I've learned my lesson. I now have some arrowroot powder, and I will try again soon following one of the Vegan Ice Cream Paradise recipes.