Saturday, May 28, 2011

Vegan molasses cookies


I had originally wanted to make hermits, but didn't have any egg replacers and the only eggless recipe I found was one that had coffee in it, which I hate. I did some googling and found this recipe. It says it's supposed to be a snickerdoodle recipe, but it tastes nothing like snickerdoodles and more like molasses (I used blackstrap, so that probably had something to do with it). They turned out pretty good, I just baked them and have already "quality checked" 3 cookies.

Molasses Vanilla Bean Snickerdoodle 
from vegweb.com

    Topping:
    1/3 cup sugar
    1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

    Cookies:
    1 2/3 cups +1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
    1 teaspoon baking soda
    1/4 teaspoon salt
    1 cup sugar or vanilla sugar
    1/2 cup canola oil
    1/4 cup molasses
    3 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon nondairy milk
    1/2 vanilla bean pod, seeds scraped or 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. On a large plate, preferably with high sides or a rim around the edges, mix the topping together (sugar and cinnamon) and set aside.

2. In a medium to large bowl, combine all the flour, baking soda, and salt. Whisk to get everything incorporated nicely. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sugar and oil until thoroughly mixed.

3. Stir in molasses, vanilla bean seeds or vanilla extract and nondairy milk. Mix these ingredients together, then slowly sift in the dry ingredients. Use your hands to get a dough to form. Avoid overworking the dough.

4. Take small portions of the dough and roll into walnut sized balls. You can make them bigger, if you so choose, but this size usually yields about 20 cookies. Gently press cookie between your palms and fingers to form little disks/patties.  Carefully pat cookie disks into cinnamon sugar topping mix.

5. Place on prepared cookie sheets, sugar side up and bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges turn a faint golden brown. For a softer cookie with a chewy edge, bake for about 10 minutes. Allow a few minutes for cookies to cool before removing from sheet pan, then transfer to wire cooling rack and allow to completely cool.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Trip to the Oregon coast

On Saturday we took a trip from Portland to Cannon Beach and Astoria. It's about a two hour drive through beautiful forested mountains. We did a little Goonies tour, stopping at Cannon Beach first to see the monolith that the ship sailed out from behind of in the movie, and then took a 30 mile drive up the coast to Astoria to see the Goonies house. Right down the street from the house is a pier where there are a bunch of sea lions. I thought they were really cute, so I ended up with a bunch of pictures of them, but I think the closeup of the sleeping sea lion is my favorite. I could have watched them all day, but it's cold and windy on the pier and the area kind of smells like a petting zoo (although I wouldn't advise ever petting a sea lion).

100th post giveaway winner!





The winner for the 100th post giveaway is...
Rai! From Blargle Fargle. Thanks to everyone who entered!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Meet my new sewing machine!

I'm spending my summer vacation in Portland,OR with my boyfrand and he bought me this vintage Sears Kenmore sewing machine yesterday so I can continue to do my crafting! I'm so in love with it. It comes in a cabinet, so when I'm done I can fold it upside down and put the lid on top and have a regular table. The top part folds to the left, and give me plenty of room to put my computer and other projects I'm working on. Right now I'm still trying to unpack and organize my craft supplies, but I'm hoping a little bit later I'll be able to start sewing some new pouches for the shop. The next few days we'll be exploring Portland and the surrounding areas and clearing up the back and front yards, so I should have some fun gardening and general posts next week!
Don't forget to enter my little giveaway, going on for a few more days!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

100th post giveaway!!

 

This is my 100th post! I figured it would be fitting to do a little giveaway. Anyone from any country can enter by commenting below (anonymous comments allowed for people who "like" me on Facebook, just remember to include your email!) and a random drawing will be done to determine the winner. My original facebook mysteriously disappeared, so if you had previously liked it, you will have to like this new one instead.The giveaway is for a pink mushroom sweater clip and a pair of glitter heart earrings and ends on 12am May 22nd. 

How to enter
-be a follower on either my blog or on Facebook
-leave a comment below! Make sure your email address is included so I can contact you

For additional entries (leave another comment)
- re-post about this giveaway on your blog/tumblr/facebook/twitter


Thanks for following my blog and good luck!

Friday, May 13, 2011

Sweater clips

Mushroom, deer, or Russian nesting dolls

My blog hosting site was out for at least two days so I haven't been able to post! I didn't realize how often I check on my blog or others until I couldn't access it. I  put the downtime to good use and went crazy making little sweater clips for my Etsy shop. I also have more supplies coming in (like cute woodland critter vintage cabochons) coming in for even MORE sweater clips. I have been trying to find good sweater clips for a while now, but I didn't want to spend a bunch of money for it. I've priced these at what I'd consider a very reasonable price. The pearl chained ones are my favorite. I handmade the 5" chain with real freshwater pearls and it adds an extra touch of class. My fingers are sore from working with all of that wire last night, but I think it was worth it.
Also, something has happened to my facebook page for this website. It has suddenly disappeared in the past week and I have no idea why. I'm going to try to remedy it through facebook, but it looks like I might have to start all over again :( I'm pretty bummed, since it took me a while to gather up all the people who "liked" it.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Etsy favorites

Just a few of my favorites on Etsy. You can find the links to all of these, plus a few other favorites right here. I've been scouring Etsy for good priced vintage dresses, but unfortunately most of them are too small for me. If anyone reading this is a size small, definitely check out the dress and the cardigan I have added to my favorites, they're just too good to pass up!

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Almost summer for me!

The ONLY picture I took last time in Portland.
I only have two more finals left and then I get to go to Portland! wee! Last time I was there we went to Multnomah Falls and got a giant apple fritter from Voodoo Donuts. This time we're planning on going to Bagby hot springs, get more donuts, and plant a garden!! I'm so excited to establish a nice garden instead of doing containers. I miss having dirt to dig around in! My container garden is doing pretty decent, but I'm still having trouble with my zinnias being all weird. It's not fully opened, but it just looks bizarre!
The tomatoes are doing pretty good, though. I'm going to go grocery shopping today so I can put that ripe tomato in the background to good use! Maybe a caprese salad? Or an avocado and tomato sandwich? Those are my favorite. Either way, summer is right around the corner and I can't wait! I still have the 15% off coupon code "summer11" running in my Etsy shop until the 17th!

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Wowie cake!

Wowie cake is a family favorite. The recipe dates back to the Depression, and is super easy to make and is vegan friendly! I haven't been grocery shopping in almost two weeks, so my kitchen cabinets and fridge are pretty bare but I've been jonsing for something sweet so I whipped this up with just a few kitchen staples.


Wowie cake
1 1/2 c flour
1 c sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 c cocoa 
1 tsp baking soda

1 tbs vinegar
1 c cold water
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 c oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine dry ingredients. Make sure you sift the cocoa! Normally I don't bother sifting, but after baking professionally and completely ruining a 10 pound batch of chocolate cookies because I didn't sift the cocoa, I will never make that mistake again! Add the wet ingredients and pour into an 8" square pan. 
Bake for 35 min.
Either insert a toothpick to see if it comes out clean, or poke the middle of the cake. If it's spongy and pops back up after you poked it, you're good to go!


p.s. The cake batter tastes pretty good, too, and because it contains no raw eggs, it's totally safe to lick your spoons.


If you try this recipe, please let me know! It can be used when you're low on supplies, but it's good enough that it could easily become your go-to chocolate cake recipe. You can frost it with buttercream, or do a simple chocolate glaze over top. Another family favorite is to make these into cupcakes, and drop a mixture of cream cheese, an egg, sugar, and chocolate chips into the center before baking and frost with a chocolate glaze. mmmm...

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

May the Fourth be with you.

Well, I am in the thick of finals week! Ironically, when I have the most school work to do, I have been the most productive with my sewing. It's my coping method for stress, just hop on the machine for a little bit and give my brain a rest. I finished up three new small (4"x6") zippered pouches today, which are now for sale in my Etsy store.
 
I think the cat lady pouch is one of my favorite. I'll have to make one for myself. It even has hot pink and white heart lining to go with it! It's so cute. Well, I guess I should probably get back to studying now...
The sale is still going on until May 17th! The coupon code is "summer11" for 15% your total purchase.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Summer sale!!


I'm trying to clear out some items in order to make room for a bunch more that I will be making over the summer so from now until May 17th I'll be running a sale at my Etsy shop! Use the coupon code "summer11" when checking out to get 15% off your total purchase.
EVEN MORE, check out these two other items I've marked down to clear out. You can still use the coupon code to get an additional 15% off the sale price!
Pink woodland zippered pouch- WAS $10.50, NOW $7
Owl necklace- WAS $9.50, NOW $6.50