Elvis the Cupcake, Mac & Teese, and More

Elvis is Memphis. So it just wouldn't be right to right for a Memphian to write a vegan Southern cookbook without at least one recipe homage to the King. Meet the Elvis Cupcake:

It's peanut butter and banana, of course! The interior is flecked with peanuts and creamy banana bits, and it's topped with a rich peanut buttercream. The cupcake part is almost fat-free (except for the peanuts) so I like to think of it as "skinny Elvis." The frosting, however, is "fat Elvis" in all his chubby-cheeked glory. It's made with peanut butter, shortening, and loads of confectioner's sugar. That creates a balance that makes this Libra happy.

The cupcake is still in development, but I'm getting close to perfecting the recipe. I brought these to work today and my co-workers mostly all agreed that they were better than the first batch of them I brought in last week, which were more muffin-y than cake-y.

After all that cupcake bakin', I wanted an easy dinner tonight. So I whipped up this quick plate of Mac & Teese With Weiners In It:

Yep, it's kiddie food. But kiddie food makes me happy sometimes. I used Creamy Cheddar Teese melted with soymilk for the sauce. The new Teese sauces — creamy cheddar and nacho — are the best things ever made in the whole wide world! The veggie dogs were some I'd frozen back when I tried Melody's (of Melomeals) recipe for homemade steamed hot dogs. Her recipe is way better than the storebought kind!

On the side, I served Dark Leafy Greens with Sesame Miso Dressing from The Vegan Table:

As you can tell by the colored stems, I used fresh, local chard. And let me tell ya, this is the first thing I've made from The Vegan Table and it is most excellent! The greens are steamed and lightly sauteed with a miso-based sesame-flecked sauce. Yummy, nummy!