Embarrassingly Super Simple Hazelnut & Flaxseed Waffles

The book is done and sent into our enthusiastically supportive publisher. I mean there will be a series of edits and reedits and proofing and all that but that first step -- delivering -- is done. The manuscript has landed. Now, today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day and I feel like I should be out volunteering or at least reminding you that today would be a great day to donate to somewhere you wish you could be volunteering today*.

Instead I will be putting our kitchen and home back together after 3 months of intensive Vegan Betty Monstering, trying to catch up on the sea of emails and maybe tonight I'll try to make the streets of LA a little safer. It's going to be a busy day so I needed easy waffles. And they were lovely so I thought I'd share.

The Betty Crocker Project : Baked Vegan Chicken & Waffles

My only compliant about this recipe is that I didn't add enough Maple syrup in the pictures.

When I lived in Atlanta, there seemed to be signs everywhere for Chicken and Waffles "Shacks". I mean even Motown Legend Gladys Knight had a chain that seemed to be in every strip mall*. Which at first I assumed meant they served waffles in the morning and fried chicken at night. Imagine my Northern girl surprise, when I learned about this heart attack inducing dish was a staple in Soul Food cuisine. I mean I had lived in St.Louis and spent time in Kentucky and Louisiana and never heard of such a thing. But any cuisine can vary from region to region. Take the French dish Ratatouille: It originated in Nice and was simply seasoned with thyme and black pepper but then those show-offs down the coast in Provence started adding all these green herbs and a bit of lavender and the flavor turned into something completely different. Well, Soul Food is no different**. You can go to a completely legit Soul Food restaurant in Texas and have a pretty different experience than you would in Florida or Tennessee. From what I gather, the epicenter of Chicken and Waffles is Georgia. At first it seemed strange to me but then when I thought about it. Is it really that much weirder than having a side of fried bacon or sausage? I mean it's savory and oily meat with sweet waffles.

So when I was putting together a menu for a vegan Soul Food dinner party, I started thinking of ways to veganize this classic unique dish while also making it a bit more healthy but didn't have a proper waffle iron to pull it off. $40 later and here we are enjoying Baked Vegan Chicken and Waffles. I have to admit I've fallen in love with this unusual but awesome combo.

Speaking of awesome combos... Tonight we're going to a Hen Party with free cupcakes! No, not a British bachelorette porn and baked goods extravaganza. There is a party for our dear friend Jasmin Singer over at Our Hen House. If you find yourself anywhere near Manhattan tonight you should stop by and say "Hi". Just Click Here for the details if you didn't already click on the other link.

Even if you can't make it tonight - You can still enjoy this Georgian country classic! If for not other reason than to add it to the list of things you've done in your life.

Happy Halloween - IOU One Cookie Recipe

Happy Halloween!

Some answers to frequently asked questions. Please expect a wonderful cookie recipe soon.

1. I've heard you're working on vegan souffle recipes. Can I get a progress report?

Actually it's going really well. Thanks for asking! We're still in that testing phase where we're trying to figure out the formula that's the prefect storm of flavor and texture. Here are some photos of our favorite ones thus far. These tester souffles were flavorful while still rising. We are still working on it though because we really want to get the impressive lava monster souffle puffs without sacrificing flavor. We're 98% sure we'll get this in time to include it in the book. One thing I can promise is that we will never surrender.

Vegan Cheese & Broccoli Souffle

Chocolate Souffle

2. I would like to talk to my boyfriend/parents/roommate about trying out Meatless Monday with me. Do you have any tips and can you suggest a few recipes that we can start off with?

We both love the Meatless Monday campaign. In a perfect world everybody would be vegan every day, but until then I consider getting people to eat three vegan meals a week a success. I think the animals not being eaten would appreciate it, too. If the ultimate goal is to decrease meat and dairy consumption and increase the availability of vegan options in restaurants and stores, then this is a big step in the right direction.

If you feel awkward about talking to people about Meatless Monday, there is a a really fantastic video HSUS just launched today that can do it for you!



These are some easy recipes that I think would be good for cruelty-free living novices :

Breakfast:

Shannon Smoothie I
Whole Wheat Banana & Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Pearberry Crumble Cups
Mexican Scramble
Garlic Cheezy Biscuits
Crepes


Lunch:

Antipasto Salad
Avocado & Smoked Sheese Salad with Toasted Walnut Dressing
French Dip Sandwich
Rustic Avocado Sandwich
Caribbean Black Beans
Asian Beef-less Noodle Bowl


Dinner:

Fettuccine with Cannellini Beans & Artichoke Heart Alfredo
Vegan Creole Spice Popcorn Chicken
Chili Pots
Margarita Pizza
Taco Burgers
Beef-less Stew



Hope this helps! We'll be back later with those cookies.

Mini Pumpkin Spice Donuts with an Apple Glaze

I've been finding it really hard to explain what I did this weekend. I'm not sure where to even begin. I guess that's why I'm posting this on Wednesday. See, I've been on the verge of an anxiety attack since last week... in a good way. But rather than throw all my news and stories in one huge blog post you won't even read (because let's be honest today's recipe is pretty awesome), I'm going to do something really mean and drag this out over several posts this week. Shall we begin?

These donuts - these mini pumpkin donuts* - were made for a lovely vegan baby shower brunch I went to on Saturday for the beautiful Leinana Two Moons. You might know her as the talented veganista behind Vegan Good Things. I know her as my friend. In a recent twitter conversation we discussed her love of pumpkin and my aversion to this classic autumn flavor since a childish incident with Dan's ex. It's a dumb story I won't bore you with, because to be honest this is a happy place where we don't bore each other with stories about jerk faces. Also, the story might make me sound like I keep crazy grudges**, but the truth is that pumpkin is delicious and the annual pumpkin treat flood is one of the best things about fall. I am adult enough to admit that.

This is a recipe I was saving for the donut section of our book, but there will be plenty of other unreleased recipes for that, and I really wanted to make something special for Leinana. I know I make jokes all the time about being socially awkward and shy, but it is real. Having Leinana include me in her circle of friends when we moved to NYC has meant the world to me. Also, I got to enjoy a huge plate of some of the best vegan food ever at her baby shower with some of the most amazing vegan ladies in the city: Marisa Miller Wolfson, the extraordinary activist and documentary film maker behind Vegucated; Hope Kandel, my nominee for a Nobel Prize in Super Awesome for being the food genius behind Foodswings; and the cruelty-free fashion maven behind Lifestyles of the Chic and Vegan (whose name I'm leaving out because I don't see it on her pages and I'm not one for outing folks)... just to name drop a little. Seriously though - you should check out these photos to be inspired to plan your own vegan brunch ASAP.

And when you do - include these prefect little buddies that are just the right amount of spicy and chewy and cakey and yummy. Yeah. I said "yummy" like a 4th grader and I sincerely meant that "yummy". These donuts will make you do and say all kinds of things. They're like little shots of Vegas. Enjoy!

Let Pumpkin Season Begin! 

The Betty Crocker Project : Pearberry Crumble Breakfast Cups

I was thinking the other day about how some people basically have dessert for breakfast. They put 'coffee' in front of cake, and then all the sudden it becomes socially acceptable. Don't get me wrong. I'm not judging. As long as you're not hurting anyone else (yes - this is me asking you to skip the bacon & eggs), you can eat whatever you want. I feel like I'm getting off topic.

The issue is breakfast treats... delicious, sweet, crunchy, yummy, sunshine-on-your-shoulder breakfast treats. This is not the healthiest breakfast, but it's not the worst either. It's also super delicious and easy to make.

Autumn is right around the corner. In some places it's already here. I mean, Maine woke up this morning to a frost warning. This breakfast is warm and sweet and all things lovely for fall. I won't lie; it also goes pretty great with a cup of tea and a healthy dose of nerdery. Did you know NASA recently discovered the 1st Tatooine-like planet? Would I make that up?

There are a lot of cool things out there. If your week has been like mine, it can be easy to forget how awesome the universe can be. So this weekend enjoy this breakfast treat yourself and give yourself some time to marvel at the universe*.

Let's make some crumble cups!

These are the Mini Chocolate-Covered Coconut Doughnuts you're looking for.

We roasted our coconut but I think they would be just as good with raw coconut.

Please forgive me boring you with my 'I survived the NYC Earthquake of 2011' story, but I think that I might have learned something about myself that day. And don't worry, this isn't a story about surviving a traumatic event as much as a story that gives me a chance to laugh at myself.

There I was, typing away on the sofa. Our beloved Agatha was under the sofa, amateur kitten spelunking. Never heard of it? Oh, that's where your little buddy crawls around upside down on the lining of sofa - tearing it to shreds and growling at dust bunnies. It looks fun. Never tried it myself. Then I started to feel like there were 30 cats under the sofa. The screen on my laptop seemed to be swaying. My mind tried to figure out why I felt seasick, and then it hit me. I hadn't eaten breakfast or lunch... hadn't even finished my coffee that day. So like a good New Yorker, I began neurotically googling symptoms for low blood sugar, because I had this tiny fear I was going to pass out. I mean, what would happen if I passed out? Would the cats sit on me to keep me warm like they do when I'm sick... or take this opportunity to go after the catnip stash? Then I spotted a tweet about an Earthquake near DC. Yay! We're saved! Back to work!

Now the moral of this little tale is this, my friends - eat breakfast*! We just got a new mini doughnut pan and we've already started to tackle the doughnut section of our cookbook. Everyone should get one of these mini pans. They're like adorable little doll house donut pans. These doughnuts are faster to make than you think. With a little planning, you might be able to make these before work one day.

Now remember, these are mini cake doughnuts so they're heavier than raised doughnuts - if you want something like that, we have a Vegan Beignets recipe that makes me swoon. But let's not get off-topic. These are the doughnuts you were looking for.

The Betty Crocker Project : Masala Spiced Donut Bites

There is a time and place for every sad story. Since it's Monday, I won't break your heart with the story of how we missed yet another BBQ this weekend because of a kitchen emergency, or give you nightmares telling you about the corn fritter from Hell that did this to me... only on the top of my foot. I hadn't realized that corn fritters could become molten lava, but they can. I also won't bore you to death talking about how the ceiling in one of our rooms caved in from the rain. What a big huge annoying yawn. Yeah. Instead I'm going to tell you about an odd little donut miracle that we stumbled across while flipping through The Betty Site.

If you follow me on Facebook and Twitter, you know since we moved to NYC we've been eating a lot of curry. To quote my handsome husband: "I am now more curry than man." I mean Thai, Indian, Chinese, Jamaican... you name a curry, and we've enjoyed it. So you can imagine what happened in The Shannon Homestead when I stumbled across donut "holes"/bites made in mini muffin pans and spiced with light, sweet & warm curry spice! I'm pretty sure something like this happened.

But that wasn't the only awesome thing to happen recently. Here are but a few!

• Compassionista Girlie Girl Army featured our Vegan Bacon & 3 Cheese Frittata of Your Dreams and included a Bloody Mary Recipe that I can't wait to try!
• Vegan Rock Star (& a bag of chips) Sarah Kramer opened her own Vegan Shop recently in Victoria, BC! I have just added a visit to this little shop of wonders to my bucket list... which I just started this weekend and only says : Visit Sarah's Place.
• Cookbook Author/Post Punk Kitchen Queen & Awesome-sauce Expert Isa Chandra Moskowitz & team launched their Teal Cat Project! Anyone who lived anywhere near Brooklyn knows that feral and homeless cats need our help now and this project is a clever and compassionate way to help cats and get an adorable tchotchkes in the process! We have already ordered ours! They already sold out of the first batch but more cats are promised and there are shirts to hold you over till then!
• We recently went on a doubles datesy thingy with the ladies over at Our Hen House and saw The Breakfast Club in the big screen! I'm still totally saying totally too much, but it makes me feel young again. Plus I work from home so who's it bother besides Dan who promised to love through better and worse. Totally.

There was more but I feel like I've kept you from the donut bites long enough...

The Betty Crocker Project : Lemon Pesto Crescent Rolls

This one could have been rolled better, but you can't see the filling in the prettier ones.

So I keep writing and rewriting this post. I have so much to share! In one I vented about my soul-crushing disappointment in the Democrats; and when I say vent, I mean lost my freaking mind. There was another one about my frustration with my job and about how freaking hot it's been lately. I considered instead taking a more positive route and typing your face off* about how I was flattered by our nomination for a VegNews Veggie Award this year that I got kinda choked up. Especially considering the fact we're up against some really awesome blogs that have been around forever and have huge followings... well, it's pretty amazing! Like a vegan food blog miracle! Thank you Baby Pizza! If you haven't voted for us - please do!

We've also been tweaking things on here a bit here and there. I finally found a reliable email subscription service. So you can get Meet The Shannons sent right to your inbox now! The subscription box is in the right hand column. It's OK to get really excited about that.

But really, that's not why you're here. Let's talk Pesto Crescent Rolls instead. The buttery, flaky, garlicy crescent rolls that I had for breakfast with a cup of coffee and some Nyan Cat to wake me up. Yeah, I know Nyan Cat is so April 2011 but I have to ask... Aren't we all just a little April 2011?**

I will share that I plan to eat these all day with my salad or soup for lunch. I personally love a good lemony pesto. I mean, do you remember when we made those vegan Red Lobster Garlic Cheezy Biscuits? These rolls aren't as easy as those little buddies, but they're just as good. And in the end, that's what really matters. I included one of Betty's "Cheats" in case you want a short cut.

Let's roll!

The Betty Crocker Project : Adventures with Strawberries & Rhubarb

Strawberry Rhubarb Spice Muffins

Once upon a time there was a girl* who had never eaten rhubarb. Over the years, several opportunities to bake with rhubarb presented themselves, but it never really appealed to her. Then one day she found herself in a position where she had to be open to new ideas... because Betty Crocker said so.

Last weekend, we had a perfect married weekend. When I say perfect, I mean super crazy mega-married weekend**. We got up early on Saturday, filled our travel mugs with coffee, and went to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. They're free 10am to noon every Saturday, and it's rose season. You don't have to love flowers to love this place, but if you do, it totally rocks. I strolled around for about an hour with my best friend and talked about the random things friends talk about when there are pretty things to look at. Then we walked over to the Grand Army Farmer's Market to load up on organic and locally grown everything.


The Situation.

Yes, that's where we got that gorgeous bread from yesterday's post. It's also where I found organic locally grown rhubarb and these huge irresistible baskets of organic strawberries from New Jersey. We bought too much because this was my first time baking with it, but I knew there were two recipes in Betty's Big Red that asked for this pretty pink celery looking stuff - so sometimes you just have to be brave and commit.

Now, like always, I did a little research before I committed to a big bag of rhubarb. You may already know these things about rhubarb, but in case you don't, I hope you find this helpful during your own rhubarb purchasing and baking missions:

1. Rhubarb can be very tart, so Betty's recipes call for a lot of sugar to be added to offset that. I've tried to replace and decrease sugar where I can, but it was tough because Betty is pretty much always right. The earlier in the season you get the rhubarb, the sweeter it is and the less sugar you need. Since April appears to be prime Rhubarb Season in NY, we followed Betty directions for "older rhubarb" - hence the sugar.
2. Rhubarb is a good source of Vitamin A. That's good for you.
3. Strawberries can have a very subtle flavor that can be hard to capture in baking sometimes. Rhubarb compliments it so well, it really would be shame to not combine them. It not only makes your baked goods a bit healthier, but it makes the flavor more vivid too.
4. Don't eat the leaves - I guess they're poison. I think this is a pretty important tip, even though most of the time when you go to buy it the leaves are removed. Poison is bad.

First thing we made was Strawberry-Rhubarb-Mint-Tea-Tarts and if you're wondering where the Tea Tart recipe is, well I should be honest and tell you, the crazy person in me wasn't satisfied with them. The crust was just a little too crumbly. We made a tiny tweak to a recipe we already love with our vegan chicken pot pie and used a different vegetable shortening, but apparently it made a big difference. I think this tart would have been perfect with the crust we used for the fresh berry & tea tart and so we're going to try that next. The other thing was that I wasn't sure how rhubarb cooked down. So my first 2 tarts were overflowing like Jane Mansfield in an evening gown***.


I just want to point out that if you ever find yourself getting a look like that from Sophia Loren - You must be doing something right.

It was a sad moment when I realized these little tarts, tasty as they were, weren't ready for the public. But the kitchen can be a funny place. Just when you want to give up and order a pizza, you remember there's a coffee cake recipe you still need to try. These muffins are our take on Betty's Rhubarb Coffeecake and are lovely little buddies to start the day with. They've also convinced me that I can take on rhubarb.

So enough chatter... to the rhubarb!

The Betty Crocker Project : Blackberry & Walnut Coffeecake

I've spent a number of years being a best friend/amateur therapist to several young men and one woman who were addicted to "complicated" women. Some would call them "crazy", but I prefer to use a word that's just as judgmental when you say it in quotes and in a certain tone. When I'd look back at the countless hours I spent over the years listening to detailed accounts of crazy, I admit I used to shake my head in bewilderment. This delicious amazing coffeecake changed all that.

I feel like I should tell you - this is a bittersweet love story. See, I think I may have met my "complicated" woman.

Now you'll look through this recipe and wonder what I mean, because really it's a pretty simple, pretty awesome cake. But in less than 24 hours, this cake has come to make me realize that something beautiful can also be a real pain in the ass. You could even say this cake and I were doomed from the beginning. The fact that I forgot to defrost my berries over night so that I could bake the coffeecake for breakfast may lead you to say that the timing was just wrong. But really it was more than that. Things were going so well while I was blending the ingredients and filling our angel food cake spring pan. The Blackberry & Walnut filling was so good it was hard to not just sit down with a bowl of those berries and skip the cake altogether. While I sat typing away, waiting for this cake to get ready (bake), the warm vanilla fragrance that filled our home held the promise of true love. Then as I pulled this wonderful cake from the oven, I bumped my elbow on our kitchen island and dropped the pan. It flipped in midair like a freaking circus performer, and using reflexes that I can only describe as 'spidey*', I caught half of the cake in my skirt and the pan with the other half of the cake still in there with my other hand.

The cake that tried to get away.

The other half that was saved was less than pretty, but still absolutely freaking great. I debated just making this again, trying to undo what was done, but that's not how relationships work, is it? You can't just try again and pretend like nothing happened. The other thing is that this a real blog about real people really cooking their way through The Betty Crocker Cookbook, and this really happened. It's dumb, wasteful and sketchy to rebake another cake just so I can pretend everything I do is perfect and like I've never dropped a cake on my dress. I mean do I have to have a pretty picture when I can tell you this recipe works and is wonderful using the real photos from this really great cake. Don't believe me? You still need photographic proof?

A peak at the Blackberry & Walnut Filling.

Also yesterday was Geek Pride Day! Yes. Yesterday in 1977, Star Wars IV - A New Hope was released and no one was ever the same again...

Let's bake some cake.

Vegan Cherry & Almond Muffins

Now these ones are in wrappers but use the Baking Spray instructions below - Just trust me.

There is quite a bit going on in Ye Olde Shannon House today. First off, Dan is getting his wisdom teeth out. This means I will need to be his chauffeur and nurse for at least the next 24 hours. My payment of course will be in the always valuable and often times transferable "Dan on Painkillers" anecdotes and getting to watch hours of Simpson cartoons*.

I'm also working on our cookbook... GASP! I know. Exciting right?

So I'll keep it short and sweet today, these muffins are wonderful. I mean, in the time it took to bake and eat them, they have become one of my very favorite baked goodies. That's saying a lot. I mean in our Pantheon of Baked Treats, these aren't just some demi-god Achilles or Hercules wanna-bes. They are straight up Apollo muffins. You know the kind of muffins you don't take home to mom because you want to keep them all for yourself. That's right these muffins are so good they will make you turn on your own mother.

Are you sold yet? Let's make some.

Apple Churros to the Rescue!

Is there anything in the world as lovely as celebrating St.Patrick's Day with a treat of traditional Spanish-style fried dough?

According to Wikipedia (which as we know from watching Eddie Izzard stand-up, is extremely reliable):

Churros are often sold by street vendors, who will often fry them freshly on the street stand and sell them hot. In Spain, Mexico, and Argentina, they are available in cafes for breakfast, although they may be eaten throughout the day as a snack as evident in Nicaragua. Specialized churrerías can be found in the form of a shop or a trailer during the holiday period. In Colombia they can be found in the streets but they are thin and shaped like a ring.

But our buddies over at "The Free Encyclopedia that Anyone Can Edit" (no, seriously, that's their tagline - check it out) forgot to mention that the origins of churros is one of mystery and controversy. There are some who feel adamantly that they were developed by Spanish shepherds, and that recipes were developed and handed down from generation to generation. Others claim to have proof that this delicious treat was first made by monks in the 13th century, and then shared with the people in an act of great charity. We may never know the truth without the plot to Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure coming true. What we can do is make a batch of these historically enjoyable little guys to enjoy over the weekend.

So let's fry some dough!

The Vegan Bacon & 3 Cheese Frittata of Your Dreams

Wednesday night can mean a lot of different things to folks out there. Now just going off your emails, I know a lot of you are pretty loyal Top Chef watchers. Now Dan and I aren't the kind of people who plan our lives around what's on TV that night. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But ever since Baby Jesus invented TV shows On Demand and putting whole seasons out on DVD - so you can have deep long term relationships with marathons of your favorites - Dan and I go about our lives and watch what we want when we want. With the exception of Top Chef and Wednesday night*. Why you ask? What makes Top Chef so special? Don't they make like a ton of meaty - eggy - cheesy  stuff? They do and just like with Betty - we watch to get ideas and inspiration. We watch for the food photography and styling. We watch it because it is a Shannon family tradition to watch and talk about what we would do to make dishes vegan. I mean some families travel around in pimped out school buses wearing matching outfits singing pop songs. I mean if that's your thing - that's cool I guess. We watch Top Chef and we like to eat schmancy vegan eggy breakfast dishes.

This one was a big hit around here and is going to be a regular for Sunday Brunch... I recommend making some toast to go with it. 

The Betty Crocker Project : Vegan Whole Wheat Banana & Chocolate Chip Pancakes

So I know what you're thinking right now. You're wondering why we don't own these. To be honest - I wonder that all the time. I mean we just got married a little over a year ago. You'd think we would have registered for them but we didn't. You'd think we would have bought them for each other for Christmas - like some poorly written sitcom where we end up with 2 sets of Star Wars pancake molds and the canned laughter rolls. Well, we wanted to makes sure to get this recipe posted for the weekend and there just never seemed a right time to swing by the mall to get them. To be honest, we generally don't go to malls a lot so maybe there were several opportunities and we just weren't paying attention or really sure what they looked like.

It's hard to say but with all the snow being dumped across America, we felt it was our patriotic duty to post this recipe before the weekend. This way all you snowed in vegans can make your own fancy brunches at home this Sunday in your warm PJs and slippers. If you're looking for tips to staying warm. I recommend what Dan has named The Burrito Approach. This is where you pull the thickest comforter from your bed and wrap it around you - actually more like a giant crepe so your legs and face show and go about your day. I use this quite often and have never gotten frostbitten or slipped into a hypothermia induced coma. Consider it tested and approved.

If you find yourself looking for more Breakfast ideas to go with these delicious and super easy pancakes like say a fancy sweet butter or maybe a vegan Denver Omelet ... Click Here. Hope we can help.

The Betty Crocker Project : Whole Wheat Cheesy Pesto Biscuits (Crackers)

So last night it occurred to me that I might be watching too much Star Trek when on the drive home from dinner I started a sentence by saying "Well during The Klingon Civil Wars...".

Yeah I did that but in my defense I also baked these adorable vegan Cheesy Pesto Biscuits/Crackers for Dan to eat with the soup he brings to work for lunch. This recipe makes around 20 of these little fellows, are pretty easy and are tasty enough to make even my most ridiculous tangents seem charming... Hopefully.

The Betty Crocker Project : Pear & Cranberry Cobbler

Before

So you may have noticed we have been having some technical difficulties over here. Crazy margins and spell check OKing words that well aren't words - that combined with the holidays and various social engagements have lead to our Christmas Pear and Cranberry Cobbler not getting posted till today. I thought about it though and really there is nothing that Christmasy about this cobbler really. It's just our adaption of Betty's Peach Cobbler. I mean you could make this tonight and enjoy it with a big mug of tea and be quite happy with it. I actually wish I had some right now.

You may have heard the news about The East Coast and our blizzard yesterday... we are literally snowed in. Our kitchen is pretty bare too since I purged a lot before we left for Boston. I wish we had even some basic groceries - like a vegetable or I could find a restaurant that would deliver. I wish I could be the kind of person who is perfectly content living off stale bread and jelly. Dan hiked through the snow this morning to get us some juice, coffee, tortilla chips and salsa from a 7-11 that was open. SIGH.

I miss you Pear & Cranberry Cobbler. Hope we get to see you again real soon!

The Betty Crocker Project : Vegan Baked Latkes

If anyone had told me there would be so many Latke recipes hitting the internet the first day of Hanukkah - Well let's just say I wouldn't have believed it. I had been looking forward to posting this recipe since I found it hidden in the Vegetable section of Betty's Big Red under the title Potato Pancakes. But in a world of Latke recipes here's what makes this one special :

• Vegan 
• Baked not Fried 
• Super Tasty 
• Um - Like Extra Super Tasty! 

We've been enjoying these this Hanukkah with some Vegan Sour Cream while we watch basketball (How sad was it that Lebron didn't get his butt kicked last night? I'm not even from Cleveland but I don't like selfish people. That Gibson kid played his heart out though) and The Wire ( Can you believe Dan has never seen it? Really one of the best TV shows ever) ... We've also been playing a new game. We still love our Zombies but ya know it's cold and we wanted something we could play while I remain warm snuggled under 3 blankets on the sofa. Enter into our lives : Munchkins.

Yes - This game is as adorable as it sounds and you how I love those adorable things. It is full of inside old school D&D and RPG jokes (Oh yeah - We're going there). It  makes sense since it is put out by Steve Jackson Games - the Milton Bradley of RPGs. Though Munchkins isn't a RPG - just a card game that requires you to be super competitive and turn on those you love the most with curses like Chicken on Your Head and Duck of Doom. So obviously it has become a pretty popular way to spend a quiet night at home for us Shannons.

But enough nerdery for today - here's a song to grate potatoes too.You have to at least enjoy the LARPing by this Jewish Boy Band  if not the tune.  Thank you goes to Rachel S. who sent this song after seeing our Matzo Ball Soup featured on Peta2's blog. Happy 15th Birthday Rachel!

OK that's a lot of chatter. Let's make some Latkes! OH and for you folks who are feeling left out - We're making gingerbread cookies and some other Christmas stuff this weekend!

The Family Album : The Urban Housewife makes Betty Beautiful!

Melisser lives in Europe so her ingredients look cooler than mine.

For The 5th day of Vegan MoFo we had the privilege of  having  Melisser Elliott A.K.A The Urban Housewife  contribute to Our Family Album with a European take on The Betty Crocker Project Oven Pancake and it looks OH so good!  Melisser has been making the world a beautiful place for years with everything from recipes, cruelty-free make-up tips to travel and restaurant guides.  She's taken all her years of kind-living and written a pretty awesome book titled The Vegan Girl's Guide to Life that expands on her webprojects and includes so much more... If you're lucky enough to live on the East Coast - you're going to want to swing by and check out one of these events from her book tour and pick up one of these books for yourself! I can't wait to get my copy! OX - Annie

Here's Melisser!

When you look at the vast selection of dishes on Meet the Shannons,
it's impressive. So impressive that when I was faced with a million
veganized Betty Crocker dishes I could test out, I was shell shocked
and had one hell of a choice to make. After digging through tons of
options, what did I choose? PANCAKE. Yes, I said pancake. You see, I
was so intrigued by the oven baked pancake and it had easy to gather
ingredients in my new home of Vienna, so I went for it.

This dish come together very easily and you start to wonder, is this
going to work? The good news is, it does! One minute you're baking
some batter in a Pyrex pan and 20 minutes later you have a big ol'
pancake to split with friends (or not). It would be a great thing to
make while you're working on a stove top tofu scramble or other dish.
One thing I noted was the lack of sugar in the batter, so I was sure
to top mine with lots of maple syrup and jam, despite the berry and
powdered sugar suggestion. What can I say? I'm a rebel.

Anyway, get out there and make yourself a big, buttery, spongy oven
pancake. What have you got to lose?

I'm Back & Look What Dan Made! Vegan Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls with Cream Cheese Frosting

I may have gotten a little crazy with the frosting - I swear the roll is in there.

I was MIA. I admit it. I could list my excuses or make up something exciting like ninja training or doing this*. But we're all friends here so I'll come clean. I had an out patient procedure that while not life threatening or anything exciting like that... pretty much kicked my ass and left me stranded on the sofa for about a week drugged and ridiculous. Fable III was launched but I was too deliriously well delirious to even play really or do much of anything really. Most weeks I would find a way to enjoy this. I'm a pretty positive person but this is was pretty much the worst week it could have happened because I missed some really great stuff... in no particular order.

• Halloween! I missed Halloween. I'm not one of those gals who needs to go out every night and drags Dan to dance clubs or parties. But when it comes to Halloween. I'm a party girl. I love it more than anything and this Halloween we played Civilization V and I was asleep by 9pm. 
• The Rally to Restore Sanity. I would have done anything to go. I looked forward to it for months but it was not meant to be. I will forever have to live through the photos and anecdotes of my friends. Soon we'll be living in LA and I can't help but get a little sad thinking about all those times I've marched on Washington. This would have been a really nice high note to end my East Coast Era on. 
• We had to postpone having a food writer and her photographer over for dinner because I just couldn't get off the sofa. It pretty much broke my heart.  

On a positive note though there is a lot to look forward to...

• This morning we got up to have one of our favorite dates - Voting Day Date! Getting up before dawn to beat the rush and take steaming hot travel mugs over to the elementary school to do our our part as good citizens**. Don't forget to vote today! Especially if you are in Missouri. Those puppies need you to support Prop b.
• Yesterday was our first post as part of Vegan MoFo! What's that? It's a clever little project created by the gals over at Post Punk Kitchen where basically we're going to post at least 20 blog entries this month (that's every weekday) about being vegan. Yeah - I know that's what we do around here anyways... but It's OK to belong to something that supports what you do - especially something that is doing so much to help animals by making vegainism cool! 
• Thanksgiving is coming! We love Thanksgiving around here. We have pretend Thanksgiving dinner a few times a year... So yeah... our Thanksgivings are kinda a big deal and this year I'm hoping we can really bring it!
• The much anticipated Vegan Girl's Guide to Life is out! If you live on the East Coast you should check out one of these events! 
• Dan's Birthday! YAY! (if you never click on any of my links - this time make an exception)

There's more but let's just get back to these Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls that Dan made and we'll get to the rest in good time...

The Betty Crocker Project : Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

Yeah that's a mini pumpkin. These muffins aren't the size of a birthday cake - which could be cool too but we went the other way this time and made them mini. The leaves are changing outside and we're hitting serious Halloween countdown time. I don't like to brag (too much) but Dan & I are pretty legit when it comes to Halloween.

As are these Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins. With all the candy floating around right now - sweet can feel a little played out but these muffins have just the right amount of tangy cranberries, warm spices and of course pumpkin to feel at home this time of year without getting lost in the goodie avalanche (that I look forward to all year).