Magic-Delicious Vegan Chocolate Cake (Magic)

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes
Makes 3 8" layers

2 1/2 c flour
2 c sugar
combine 3/4 c- 1 c cocoa
2 t soda
1 t salt

2 c warm almond milk (or water or really any milk at all)
2 t vanilla
beat in: 2/3 c vegetable oil
2 t apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar)


Bake

Frosting:

2 c sugar
whisk in saucepan: 2/4 c corn starch
1/2 c cocoa

whisk in: 2 c almond milk (or water, or any milk)

heat until boiling
boil 1-2 minutes or until
frosting-ish texture is achieved

remove from heat and add: 1/4 c vegetable oil
1 t vanilla

Curried Potatoes

chop and boil in salt water until soft: 5 medium potatoes

2 cinnamon sticks
combine and crush: 2 cloves
1 t fennel

add and saute: 2 onions, chopped
as much curry as desired

add and saute: 3 t crushed garlic
3 t grated ginger

1 t turmeric
3 t red chili pepper
add: salt and pepper to taste
coriander

separately, saute: 1 1/2 c chopped cabbage
curry
soy sauce
combine potatoes, onions, and cabbage

add water until desired consistency is reached

Buttermilk Pancakes

I seem to be on a pancake/breakfast streak, but really, you can't go wrong with that. Buttermilk pancakes are one of my favorite things in the world, but I absolutely detest pancakes that claim to be buttermilk, but don't taste like it. Don't get me wrong; there is nothing wrong with your everyday pancakes- still, they just aren't buttermilk pancakes unless you can taste it. This recipe is the best I've come across, and have been using it since I was 9 years old. Its fail proof. As a kid, I loved to add chocolate chips, and then pour outrageous amounts of chocolate syrup over the pancakes. The pancakes are great like that, plain, or with a couple handfuls of blueberries mixed in.

combine:
2 c flour
1 1/4 t baking powder
3/4 t baking powder
1 t salt

add:
2 eggs
2 c buttermilk
1/4 c melted butter

Broiled Bananas

Broiled bananas, in my opinion, make one of the tastiest breakfasts in existence. The key is to get a chewy sort of texture out of the brown sugar that goes beautifully with the warm mushy banana. As a person who typically hates bananas, this one is a winner- you really can't lose with the banana-lemon juice combination. As well as a lovely breakfast, broiled bananas on top of vanilla ice cream can make a great dessert. Or you could just have it for breakfast...on ice cream.


slice crosswise and lengthwise (into 4 pieces): 3 medium ripe bananas
place in a lightly buttered baking dish

brush both sides of the banana with: 2 T lemon juice (FRESH FRESH FRESH!)

drizzle: 2 T butter
over bananas

2 t brown sugar
combine: 1/4 t cinnamon
1/8 t ground allspice
dash ground cloves

sprinkle over bananas

broil for 5 minutes about 5 inches away from heat- let brown lightly
serve hot

Age-Old Crepes

I've been using this crepe recipe since I was about 13. Its one of those "special occasion" recipes that everybody loves. I made it recently as requested by my little brother for his birthday breakfast. He loves his smothered in nutella and filled with strawberries, which really can't be beat. Also delicious is a little lemon juice sprinkled with powdered sugar.

makes 14-16 5-inchers

3/4 c flour
1/2 t salt
sift: 1 t baking powder
2 T powdered sugar

3 eggs
in a separate 2/3 c milk (more if needed)
bowl, beat: 1/3 c water
1/2 t vanilla

make a well in the dry ingredients and add the egg and milk mixture
whisk into an even consistency

fry in a heated greased pan until done

Mile High Biscuits (with Milk Gravy)

Jenny Wilson taught me how to make these awesome biscuits in Achievement Days when I was about 9, and I have used this recipe ever since. These are everything biscuits should be. I like them with milk gravy and jam.

Bake at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes

Mix together:

3 c flour

2 T sugar

4 t baking powder

3/4 t salt

Cut in:

3/4 c butter

Mix in:

1 egg

1 c milk

Roll the biscuits out and cut into circles or whatever shape suits your fancy. Bake til golden brown.

Russian Teacakes

Gabriel and I had a lovely morning making these cookies- he insisted that his be made without nuts and covered in green sprinkles. I figured, why not?
These didn't turn out round like I expected them to, but I think it was simply because I made them too large. The recipe says 1" balls, and I've always had a terrible gauge of what size things are.

Mix Thoroughly:
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 c sifted powdered sugar
1 t vanilla
Stir in
2 1/4 c flour
1/4 t salt
3/4 c nuts, finely chopped
C hill for about an hour
place onto an ungreased baking sheet
roll in powdered sugar while still warm and then again once cool

Pesto Pizza with Roasted Garlic, Peppers and Onions

This is divine and I ate way too much of it. Originally the brain child of Zack Brady, this pizza rocks my world.

Pesto:

Puree:

Basil

Garlic

Salt

Pepper

Parmesan Cheese

Spread dough on pizza plate (I was lazy and used pre-made dough)

Spread pesto over it

Saute:

Onions

Bell Peppers

Garlic

Salt

Pepper

Roast 2 head of garlic (see roasted garlic)

Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over pesto and cover with roasted garlic and pepper & onion mixture

Bake as directed for your pizza dough. Probably about 20 minutes at around 400

Polly's Chocolate Chip Orange Drop Cookies

This is one of my all-time favorite cookie recipes- its really quite remarkable. They are rather terrible for you physically, but emotionally... well

I make these every Christmas and whenever possible in between.

Cream:

1 c butter

8 oz cream cheese (softened)

1 cup sugar

Add:

2 eggs

2 t grated orange rind

2 t vanilla

Stir in:

2 1/4 c flour

1 t salt

an appropriate amount of chocolate chips

Chill for at least an hour

Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes

Christmas Spread

I'm beginning to feel rather silly that I posted no pictures of Christmas dinner. In my house we don't do the regular turkey shin-dig- we just buy a lot of fancy cheese and crackers and have ourselves a good old time. My personal favorite was the mango ginger stilton.

Tortillas

This is just about my favorite thing to snack on. I like to slather these guys up in honey and eat about 10 of them.

Mix up:

2 c any kind of flour (i like a mixture of whole wheat and white)

1/2 t (or more) salt

1 t baking powder

-mix until a ball forms. pat/roll out tortillas (they arn't going to look like the kind from the store- i make them smaller and thicker)

-fry without oil on a very hot pan, preferably cast iron

Nonnie's Fried Chicken

My great grandma Nonnie was a legit southerner. She knew her stuff; while I'm not a huge fan of the fried stuff in general, this seems like a dish that one ought to have in their repertoire (and its pretty damn good anyways)

Cut up:

3 lbs chicken

Sprinkle with:

2 1/2 t salt

1/2 t pepper

Shake in a bag with:

1 1/4 c flour

-Fill a skillet halfway full with cooking oil

-Heat the oil until a drop of water pops when dropped into the oil

-Put chicken in (don't crowd, work in batches)

-Place a lid over the skillet and WATCH IT! when the bottom of the chicken turns brown, turn it over (it takes about 15-20 minutes to cook a pan of chicken)

-Take up the chicken on a paper towel.

YOGURT!

EVERYBODY loves yogurt. what's better? HOMEMADE YOGURT! and its easy! Heres whatchagottado:

Heat: 1 quart of milk to boiling for 1 minute

gently mix in: 2 Tb yogurt (I like greek yogurt for it's thickness)

pour it into a crockery bowl, cover with tight plastic wrap and put somewhere thats 110 degrees overnight, then switch to your fridge. GOOD TIMES!