Gram enjoying her party

Although we live more than 400 miles away from one another, I still am very close to my best friend from high school. We email, Facebook and talk on the phone several times per week. I spent as much time at her house growing up as I did my own. She was raised in part by her grandparents who became my surrogate grandparents. J’s grandfather died about 10 years ago, but her grandmother is still thriving and just turned 90 yesterday.

J’s family traveled from all over the country to come celebrate their matriarch’s big day. Gram no longer has immediate family in the area, so D and I check in on her and help her out when needed. Gram didn’t want anyone making a fuss. Just having her family in town was all she needed to feel special. She chose the Olive Garden as the place to celebrate. It may have seemed an odd choice, but it was what Gram wanted and that’s what was important. They don’t take reservations, so we had to wait more than an hour to seat the 12 guests. It was worth the wait to see the joy on her face to be surrounded by her progeny. We felt blessed to be included.

I wanted to bake something for her birthday to show her how much she means to me. She has always made me feel welcome and during my turbulent teens, her home was often a sanctuary. Gram loves coconut, so I made her some macaroons. I found the following recipe in Bon Appetit. While it was rich and more decadent than other macaroons, it was also quite delicious. The orange zest takes these little gems to new heights.

Ambrosia Macaroons

Ingredients

Broccoli at the La Grande Farmer's Market

Unlike President George H.W. Bush, we love broccoli. We usually have at least two bags of frozen broccoli florets in the freezer for a quick side dish. It’s been unusually cold this winter in Southern California. A nice bowl of warm soup is not only nourishing but a healthy balance for all the sweet treats that abound this time of year. You can trick yourself into thinking you’re being good.

I’ve been experimenting with vegan cooking lately. While we are still not vegan, we are trying to cut back on dairy and eggs for health reasons. I decided to try to make a broccoli “cream” soup without using dairy or adding cheese. It is actually quite tasty and a healthy alternative to other cream based soups. Look for a vegetarian “chicken” broth powder. You can usually find it in a natural foods store. It makes nice broth and is a wonderful seasoning when sauteed with fresh vegetables.

Vegan Broccoli Cream Soup

• 1-2 pounds of fresh or frozen broccoli, cut into 1 inch sized pieces
• 2 large carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 stalks of celery, peeled and diced
• 2 small or 1 large sweet onion, diced
• 2 large russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 4 tablespoons of vegetarian “chicken” broth powder
• 4 cups of water
• 2 bay leaves
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup of soy creamer or plain soy milk

Directions

In a medium sized dutch oven, sauté the onions, carrots, celery and garlic in the olive oil until soft and fragrant, about 5 – 10 minutes. Trader Joe’s now sells a “Mirepoix” mixture of celery, carrots and onion to save you time, but it’s easy and less expensive to cut them up yourself. Add the “chicken” broth powder and saute for 5 more minutes. The powder will release more moisture from the vegetables and become more fragrant. Add the potatoes and cook for a few more minutes. Add the water, bay leaves, and the broccoli and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until the broccoli and potatoes are fork tender. This will take about 20 minutes or so.

Remove the bay leaves! Using an immersion blender, blend the soup to a desired consistency. If you don’t have an immersion blender, you can puree the soup in batches in a blender, but be careful to only fill the blender halfway so that you don’t burn yourself if the hot soup overflows. If you like a chunky soup, you can remove some of the broccoli and potatoes and add back in. If the soup is too thin, you can microwave some frozen broccoli and add it to the soup. Add the soy creamer and salt and peppper to taste. You can add more soy creamer or milk if you prefer a creamier soup.

After you’ve eaten your healthy soup, you won’t feel so bad for eating a few more of those sinful Trader Joe’s star cookies covered in dark chocolate. Those things are evil!

Orange Cranberry Bread with Chocolate

(I’m reposting this from my main blog. It’s been far too long since I’ve posted here. I was surprised to find people actually read it, so I’m going to try to be better.)

Although, I’m not a vegan, I have been an ovo-lacto vegetarian for 18 years. Lately, we have been cutting back on dairy and eggs. I’ve experimented with using soy milk in place of cow’s milk since we don’t have it in the house anymore. I’ve found that it actually works better in quick breads. It seems to add a bit of tanginess, not unlike buttermilk.

I decided to try making a complete vegan bread using a recipe that was already close. It called for buttermilk, sour cream or yogurt. Substituting soy milk and soy yogurt was easy. I also am trying egg substitute and this recipe only had one egg, so I thought it would be a good test. As an added bonus, I tried adding a bit of chopped vegan dark chocolate. Dave thought it would be good in orange bread, and boy was he right!

This bread was delicious, both warm and cold. I’ve made this bread using dairy and eggs and now I’ve made the vegan version. I have to admit, the vegan version is better. It’s clean and bright with the orange contrasting nicely with the chocolate and the tang of the cranberry adding the extra zing.

Vegan Orange Cranberry Bread with Chocolate

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 orange (zest and juice)
• 1/4 cup of vanilla soy yogurt
• 1/2 cup of vanilla soy milk
• 1 serving Ener-G egg substitute
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 cup of fresh cranberries, roughly chopped
• 2-3 ounces of vegan dark chocolate, roughly chopped

Preheat the oven to 350º F.

1. Using a Microplane zester, zest the orange making sure not to go into the white pith. Juice the orange and place the zest in the juice to bloom.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the orange juice and zest, yogurt, soymilk, egg substitute and vegetable oil.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just combined. Do not overmix.
5. Fold in the cranberries and chocolate.
6. Pour the batter into a greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
7. Bake the bread for 55 – 65 minutes until a tester inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean and the bread starts to pull away from the edges of the pan.
8. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack for 15 minutes and then run out of the pan to finish cooling.