Apples, I'm home.

In the adapted words of Eminem, "Guess who's back, back again? LP's back, tell a friend." 'Cause it feels so empty without me. :-P

I haven't been writing in here this summer because my life has been hectic . Also, my digital camera and I spent some time apart, but now we are reunited in rainy, drainy Oregon.

This summer I moved into a beautiful house with two gorgeous gardens. In the backyard, there is an apple tree with more apples than I know what to do with. But, in an effort to use as many as possible, I decided to make applesauce. It was easier than I thought it would be, and the applesauce is better than any I've ever tasted - and I've tasted a LOT of applesauce.

Here is the food porn you've been waiting for:

Before:

After:

Ingredients:
3-4 pounds of peeled, cored, and sliced granny smith apples (I only quartered my apples because they were small)
4 strips of lemon peel
Juice of 1 lemon
teaspoon of nutmeg (I actually may have used a little less - so use as much as you want!)
1/2 cup of vegan sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 cup water

1. Combine all ingredients in a large pot (careful not to get a ton of lemon seeds in the pot; they are a pain to pick out). Bring to boil, then simmer for 20 minutes or until it is mushy enough that you can easily mash the rest with a potato masher. Make sure to stir it occasionally.
2. Remove from heat. Remove lemon peels. Mash it!
3. Make sure to eat some while it is still hot. Hot applesauce is delicious!


If I do this again, I'll probably use less sugar, but only a tiny bit less. Mmm, I hope I do this again!

I'm going to eat more applesauce now.

These cookies really are da bomb.

I realize I haven't written about many vegan foods that are fatty enough to make anyone feel guilty. That is going to change right now. I give you Da Bomb Cookies.








Da Bomb Cookies Recipe

1/3 cup vegan sugar
1/4 cup olive oil
1.5 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons water
1.5 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 pinch of salt
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup raisins
1/2 cup carob chips*

1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2) Combine sugar with all wet ingredients, stir. Then stir in the dry ingredients. Add a little more olive oil, water, or maple syrup if you need to, but be careful not to get it too wet, oily, or sweet. I added a TINY bit of oil and maple syrup just to get the dough to stick together a little more.
3) Drop tablespoons of the dough onto a greased cookie sheet. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

*Personal Note: I am allergic to chocolate. You will never see chocolate in my recipes, but go ahead and use vegan semisweet chocolate chips if you prefer. Although, I gave some of these cookies to friends who don't often eat carob, and they couldn't tell the difference. These cookies are THAT good. If you use real chocolate, you may want to use a little less maple syrup because the cookies may get overpowered with sugar.


Honestly, my measurements were "one small handful sunflower seeds, one normal handful raisins, one HEAPING handful carob chips," but I think the measurements given in the recipe are probably close.

These are some of the best vegan cookies I have ever tasted, and definitely some of the best cookies I have ever made. My nonvegan friend, Nick, agrees.
Seriously, make this recipe. NOW.

I adapted a recipe that I found on Vegweb.com for Chocolate, Sunflower, Cranberry Cookies in order to better serve my taste buds. I have never tried the original, but I've got to say my version is better. There are three reasons why my version must be better: 1) Maple syrup makes the guilty pleasure THAT much more flavorful and the recipe deliciously moist. 2) Raisins > Cranberries. 3) My sunflower seeds/raisins/carob chip ratio is more targeted toward what people really want when they bite into a cookie than the faux-healthy gimmick of keeping the proportions equal, like in the original recipe.

If I make this recipe again (and I will), I will probably use vegan margarine instead of olive oil. If you try this, let me know how it goes. Maybe you will beat me to the punch.

These cookies really are DA BOMB. They will raise your spirits if you are going through finals - or whatever stressful situations people out in the real world encounter. Eat them. You will feel better.