Oat Couture

The unfathomable reality has fallen upon me; …I’m tired of chocolate.

It feels like everything I’ve been baking lately has been made of, dipped in, drizzled, or smothered with chocolate. Quite frankly, I’m just getting bored. So I set off, in search of a broader horizon, and then the request came in – something with peanut butter. An excellent challenge to undertake, since nut butters are wonderfully varied and contribute fantastic flavors and textures to baked goods in general, although chocolate and peanut butter are such a natural go together… Clearly, it was going to be tough.

By now, I’ve basically figured out that you just can’t go wrong with the recipes on PPK, so I set my eye on their Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies.

I had everything set and ready to go – The blender was plugged in, the oven was preheating, and I was excited to try out something new. I was cutting open my package of tofu… When all of a sudden, it smelled as though I had just stuck my face in a public restroom urinal. Oh my god, what is that?! I sniffed frantically at the garbage, and then it hit me: It was the tofu. Crap! Does that mean I have no choice but to abandon ship?!

Never! I reached deep into the depth of my freezer and came out with… A banana! Perfect! Changing ingredients and faking my way through the instructions, I came up with my own version of the Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookie.

I might finally be getting the hang of this ‘vegan baking’ thing! No textural issues to speak of, they have a very tasty peanut butter / banana flavor, and you can almost pretend that they’re good for you, too! Next time though, I may throw in a handful of raisins just for contrast, or if I came out of this rut… Maybe even some chocolate.

Hannah (BitterSweet)1 Comment

Happy Crafting To You!

Somehow I’ve managed to give out my entire stock pile of knit cupcakes – They all went so fast! With at least two or three upcoming birthdays to prepare for, I figured there was no time like the present to start replenishing my supplies.

Another pin cushion, mostly because I think the pinheads look better as sprinkles than the beads, but it’s also for another crafty friend, so I think the effort will be appreciated. Unfortunately, I’m running out of “realistic” frosting colors… The neon pink may be pushing it a bit.

Hannah (BitterSweet)5 Comments

Matzah Toffee

As I browsed the web, I quickly discovered that there was a definite shortage of vegan recipes that were suitable to serve on Passover. Now, I’m not the expert on this because I’m not at ALL religious, but for Passover, the rules says that you can’t have any wheat or leavened products for one week. It may come as no surprise, but I’ve decided that all things considered, it would be best for me to mostly… Ignore the tradition this year. I’m really only participating in the sedar at my house on Wednesday because of my family, not because of the beliefs behind it. Honestly, I might even consider myself Agnostic at this point. But anyways, I still love holidays for their special nuances and seasonal considerations. They simply add to the spice of life!

Still wishing to contribute to my family’s Passover dinner, I pulled out this little number from my mom’s recipe box in the kitchen. Surprisingly, no alterations were necessary, as the ingredients were already completely vegan. This is such a sweet, addictive treat, it barely takes any time to make, uses very few ingredients, and if you’re a little bit skeptical about the matzah, any type of cracker could be substituted – Maybe even some sort of flour or crushed graham cracker crust if you’re feeling adventurous!

Have a sweet holiday!

Hannah (BitterSweet)2 Comments

Pitter Patter of Little Feet

[Before launching into my latest rant, I just wanted to send out a HUGE thank you to everyone who replied to my frantic post the other day. You guys were such a great help, I was so bewildered and panicked, every time I thought about it I just felt sick to my stomach. After being vegan for a solid 2-3 years now, you would think you have the whole reading-every-single-label routine down by now, but this one managed to slide past me for far too long. Anyway, your suggestions all mean more than words to me, and I plan on searching for the VegLife Vegan One supplement today if there’s enough time. I’m hoping they’ll have it at Wild Oats…? Anyway, once more, thank you SO much for all your support, I knew that if anyone out there could help me, it was my fellow veggies.]

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How out of the loop am I! Only recently, I learned that a friend of mine was expecting some big changes to her household hierarchy in the form of an addition; A very small, and possibly demanding addition at that! She will soon become an aunt, as her sister is now almost 8 months pregnant! Although my dear friend isn’t exactly thrilled about this news, I haven’t heard anything so exciting in a long time. You know what a new baby means – Tons of tiny knit lovies to create!

Getting straight to work, I dove right into the One Hour Baby Booties in Stitch and Bitch Nation. I must say, the title doesn’t lie – This was one of the fastest projects I’ve been able to whip up in quite some time! Instant gratification, huh? It makes me want to knit other sweet baby things, just because they’re so cute and easy. I have no doubt that they will be appreciated by the mother, so who knows… If I can get my hands on some soft and inspiring baby yarn, there might be a sudden surge in the number of miniature finished objects…

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Betrayal

After all these years of trust, I don’t know what I can count on any more.

To my shock and absolute horror, it occurred to me for no reason whatsoever to just check out the ingredients in my multivitamin.  What I found was worse than I could ever imagine.  I don’t want to say exactly what has been contaminating my body, but I feel dirty and nauseous every time I think of it.  How can companies get away with this type of shit???

I’m so enraged, I need to move on.  So all of you out there who are vegan, I need your help desperately!  I now have no multivitamin, and at this point my health is still somewhat fragile and I need to find a new one as soon as possible.  What do you use, where do you buy it, and for how much?

Fuck corporate America, I don’t want to hurt animals every time I want to add some extra nutrients to my diet.  The whole idea is completely repulsive. 

Hannah (BitterSweet)4 Comments