Liz Lovely Cookie Review #1

As promised, I'm reviewing each Liz Lovely cookie from my awesome sampler package in individual posts. My first cookie was the Peanut Butter Classic:


I've always loved old-fashioned peanut butter cookies (you know, the kind with the criss-crossed fork lines), and I've been going through a bit of a nut butter phase lately. I keep at least three different kinds of nut butter or flavored peanut butter (can anyone say Dark Chocolate Dreams?) in the pantry at all times. So naturally, I was drawn to this cookie first.

As you can see by the picture, this ain't your typical-lookin' peanut butter cookie. There's a solid layer of dark chocolate on the bottom and gorgeous chocolate drizzle across the top. Peanut butter is delicious on it's own, but if there's one thing that can make it even better, it's chocolate (again, with the Dark Chocolate Dreams).

At first bite, the cookie reminded me of the giant ones I used to buy at the Cookie Factory in the mall as a kid. Somewhat chewy, but not overly so. The kind of chewy that melts in your mouth the moment it hits the tongue. The already mild peanut butter taste is masked a little by the chocolate, but not so much that it overpowers. It's the perfect balance of light and dark, soft and firm. Yum!

Unfortunately, I had to restrain myself from eating more than a half of a cookie at a time (there are two giant cookies in the package). That's because one whole cookie is a whopping 24 grams of fat. And while the ingredients are Skinny Bitch-approved (evaporated cane juice, wheat flour, molasses), my inner former fat girl (yes, I used to be chubby) won't let me go all the way with these. But that's fine. That just means more for later!

By the way, these are cookies with a conscience. Ingredients are fair trade certified and USDA Organic! Yea!

Note: In case you haven't been keeping up, I won an free box of Liz Lovely vegan cookies from a blog contest hosted by Miss Jess from The Domestic Vegan. The box featured five flavors.

Beans, Greens, and Things

After yesterday's raw food fast, I gained a whole new appreciation for cooked food. I'm pretty sure I could never go 100% raw (or even 50% raw). Raw food is nice and all, but nothing beats a steaming, hot soul-soothing bowl of beans and kale with cornbread. So that's exactly what I whipped up tonight:


Everything in this bowl was grown within 100 miles of my apartment (well, except for the seasonings). The beans came from Northeast Arkansas. My Granny gave me a bag of what she called "agriculture beans" the last time I visited, and she got them from someone's garden. I'd never heard of an agri bean before, but they taste like a regular brown bean. The green stuff is kale I picked up at the Memphis Farmer's Market on Saturday.

Seasoned with a little Liquid Smoke (yea, not local but whatev), Cavendar's seasoning (made in Arkansas, but not likely sourced there), and Greens Seasoning, this was one delicious bowl of beans.

Of course, you can't eat beans without cornbread! I needed to test the Whole Wheat Buttermilk Cornbread recipe for my cookbook anyhow, so this was a great opportunity.


I'm not going to give out my secret recipe, but I will say that I was pretty impressed with this cornbread. I developed the recipe before giving up white flour, so this was the first time I made it with whole wheat pastry flour. I dare say it's actually better with whole wheat...and of course, I baked it in my cast iron skillet. I also add frozen corn to my cornbread although growing up, we never ate it that way.

Raw Cinco de Mayo

So I had a dilemma. My monthly raw food detox day (first Monday of each month) fell on Cinco de Mayo. My first impulse was to move this month's cleansing day to Tuesday so I could celebrate Mexico's independence day with too much chips and salsa, overstuffed burritos, and tangy margaritas. But then I found a recipe for raw tacos, and though I knew I'd regret the day-long ban on margaritas (more on this later), I decided to stick with my original plans.

The day started off with a pretty un-Mexican liquid breakfast — Banana Hemp Milk Smoothie (like the "Turkey of the Year" glass from a local pub? Notice it's animal abuser/scum-of-the-Earth Michael Vick).


This was really simple and pretty satisfying (at least for a couple hours). Here's the recipe:

Banana Hemp Milk Smoothie
-----------------------
1 cup water
1 banana
1/4 cup hemp seeds
2 pitted dates
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. raw agave nectar
4-5 ice cubes

Combine everything in a blender and voila.

I also had a glass of grapefruit pineapple juice made in my trusty Jack Lalanne juicer:



Lunch couldn't come soon enough though. I was hungry again by 11 a.m., so I made a salad using the arugala and green onions I bought at the Farmer's Market on Saturday.


I also added thinly sliced radishes, shredded carrots, and Fatima's Flax Dressing from the "Vegan World Fusion Cuisine" cookbook. The dressing, loaded with flax oil, raw garlic, and apple cider vinegar, complemented the spicy taste of the arugala and radishes. I wasn't even sure I liked radishes when I bought them, but they were so pretty and red! Fortunately, I loved every crunchy bite!

Before heading to the gym at 5 p.m., I snacked on a Cocoa Mole Larabar (in keeping with the Mexican food theme). But dinner really stole the show. The Fiesta Tacos from "Alive in 5: Raw Food in 5 Minutes" by Angela Elliott are probably one of the best raw dishes I've ever cooked, uh I mean, uncooked.


There's a sunflower seed and sundried tomato pate (flavored with traditional Mexican spices like chili powder, cumin, and paprika) stuffed into romaine hearts along with raw corn, cubed jicama, and avocado. Though the book suggested topping the dish with homemade salsa, I forgot to buy tomatoes and such. Fortunately, my friend Greg made fresh salsa today and I was able to steal some for tomorrow's Fiesta Taco leftovers. The pate is too die for (tastes almost like veggie burger in a taco)! Luckily, I'll have some extra pate leftover to spread on crackers and bread later this week.

Finally, after a whole day of doing good with the raw foods detox, I went to a Cinco de Mayo party. As soon as I walked in the door, I was offered a margarita. Seeing as how it's a Mexican holiday, how could I refuse? I figure I did great all day with the raw food thing, so I deserved a refreshing break. And hey, did I mention this was a vegan Cinco de Mayo potluck? Somehow I managed to stay out of the food since none of the dishes were raw ... that was an amazing feat unto itself.

Joan Jett, Cupcakes, and Cooking Demos!

Sorry for the lack of posts since Thursday ... I'll catch you up on what's been going on. On Thursday night, I led a Tofu Chocolate Mouse cooking demo at our monthly Food Awareness vegetarian group meeting at Wild Oats. Thanks to Steph from Poopie Bitch for snapping this photo:


Sorry, but there are no final photos of the mousse. It's really simple to make though. Just blend one pack of silk tofu in a food processor. Melt down one bag of vegan chocolate chips in a saucepan and add 3 tablespoons of maple syrup and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. Pour the chocolate into the processor and blend with the tofu. Voila!

On Friday night and Saturday, the Dutchman and I (and my friends Sheridan, Greg, Misti, and Holley) got crunk at the annual Beale Street Music Fest in Tom Lee Park on the Mississippi River. We saw Joan Jett, Lou Reed, Arrested Development, Disturbed (not that I care, but that show made the Dutchman's day), and heard part of My Chemical Romance (my favorite band at the festival that unfortunately got sort of rained out). Not only did we see plenty of great shows on four stages throughout the park, but we ended up covered in mud ... every year, the festival is somewhat rained out and the park becomes a giant mud pit.


Needless to say, I ate nothing but crap while I was there Friday night and all day Saturday. My dinner at the show last night was a heaping mound of Saratoga Chips, those thinly sliced grease-drenched homemade potato chips commonly sold at fairs and festivals. Each year, they usually have one booth (out of like 100) selling vegan burgers or burritos. But this year, I searched high and low and could not find it. So I settled for crap food.

Then today was my mom's birthday, so I made whole wheat vegan Coconut Heaven Cupcakes from Vegan with a Vengeance:


Again with the fattening, not-so-heathly food, but hey, at least I used whole-wheat pastry flour and light coconut milk. These were aptly named because they were, indeed, heaven.

On Saturday morning, before heading down to Music Fest, I went to the Memphis Farmer's Market for the first time this season! I love the farmer's market so much! It's only open on Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., and I've been busy and/or out of town since it's grand season opening two weeks ago. It's still early in the growing season, so pickins were slim. Here's my small haul:


I brought home some fresh arugala (in the plastic bag), one bunch of kale, and some wild Vidalia onions. I also picked up a special treat for my dog, Datsun. A lady at the market was selling Pupcakes for $1:


I forget what was in them, but I believe it was vegetarian, just not vegan. It definitely had cheddar cheese in it. But Datsun's an omni so he didn't mind.

Also, the Liz Lovely cookies I won on Jess The Domestic Vegan's blog came in on Friday. That was super fast!


There are five kinds: Cowboy Cookies, Cowgirl Cookies, Peanut Butter Classics, Ginger Snapdragons, and Mochadamia Mountains. I plan on doing cookie review posts as I sample each one, and though I tried the peanut butter cookie yesterday, I'm going to save it for an entire post later this week because this ones getting a little long.

On a final note, I want to say thanks to Alice in Veganland for awarding me the "E for Excellence" award for my blog!


This really means a lot to me. I've only been doing this since December, and it's become such a fun obsession. I think I have more fun photographing my food now than I do eating it! And that's saying a lot because I'm an eater. I'm now going to pass the award on to three others (whose links I will add in the morning from my work computer because my home computer doesn't give me the option of linking...does anyone know how to fix this btw?)

And the E for Excellence Award goes to (drumroll, please):

Steph from Poopie Bitch
Kittee Kake at Kittie Kake
Melisser at The Urban Housewife

Bee-Free Mead

Happy May Day! In honor of my favorite spring holiday, I cracked open the agave mead I began making last February. I mentioned the mead in my post yesterday, and a few people asked for more info. Here's what it looks like in my sweet pimp cup:



Now mind you, I did not drink this entire glass. I just poured it for the picture. This stuff is super strong, and the amount pictured much would put me out for awhile.

Back in February, my friend Leslie (who lives in North Carolina) was visiting Memphis, and she stopped by my house to show me how to make homemade alcohol. Leslie was taking a mead-making class at the time. Mead is traditionally made with yeast, water, and honey. But Leslie and I don't use honey, so she asked her teacher if she could substitute agave nectar, which is pretty much the closest vegans can get to a honey-like substance.

Her teacher said it should work fine, but it still felt a little like an experiment. We weren't totally sure it would work or how it would taste. Another mead-making friend of mine swore it wouldn't work without honey. But he was just hatin'. It actually turned out great! It's super-strong and it doesn't taste bad. As I mentioned yesterday, it tastes like a cross between beer, wine, and rum. Here's what it looked like several months ago:


To make the mead, we boiled about a 1/2 gallon of water and poured that into a 1/2 gallon-sized glass bottle along with 2 cups of agave nectar, and a package of wine yeast (you have to get this at a brewer's shop). I infused mine with jasmine, meadowsweet, and woodruff. Leslie substituted apple juice for water in hers. She hasn't tried it yet, but I bet hers is really sweet.

Once in the glass bottle, we placed a bubble lid thingy on top (I don't know what's its called but it also comes from the brewer's shop). The bottles were stored in a cool, dry place for three months to ferment. During this time, you could see bubbles rising to the top of the bottle. After 3 months, I strained the herbs out and transferred the liquid to glass jars. Now it's ready to drink. Yum!

Walpurgis Night Feast

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, May 1st is Beltaine, a Gaelic holiday celebrating the fertility of the Earth and the abundance of Spring. Walpurgis Night is sort of like Beltaine's Christmas Eve. It's the traditional celebration awaiting the arrival of Beltaine....so I made a special meal to celebrate. Spring is my favorite season!

For the main entree, I created a new recipe for my cookbook - Black-Eyed Pea Corn Cakes with Roasted Red Pepper Creme.


Basically, it's a fritter made with purple hull peas (pretty much the same as black-eyed peas...it's what I had in the freezer) and corn. The creme topping is a combination of silk tofu and roasted red peppers. The mixture of cool cream and hot fried fritter was like a party in mouth.

On the side, I found some AMAZINGLY HUGE purple asparagus. Check this stuff out!


I've never seen purple asparagus, not have I ever seen asparagus this girthy. Even though it was a little more pricey than the regular old asparagus, I couldn't resist. I ended up boiling it instead of steaming like I usually do ... that's because the spears were too large for my mini-bamboo steamer. Unfortunately, like many purple foods, these guys lost some of their nice color while cooking. But they still tasted delish!


After boiling, I tossed it with some sesame oil, garlic, and crushed red pepper to make the "Sesame Asparagus" from Vegan with a Vegeance. The recipe also calls for sesame seeds, but I was out. The sesame oil gave the asparagus plenty of flavor though.

I washed it all down with homemade Agave Mead. My friend Leslie and I had a mead-making session in my kitchen back in February. Traditionally, mead consists of honey, water, and yeast. But since we don't eat honey, we substituted agave nectar. I also steeped my mead with herbs - jasmine, meadowsweet, and woodruff. It had to ferment for three months in a dark, dry place (my closet). Tonight, it was finally ready to crack open. I only had a small wine glass full, and man, this stuff is strong. It tastes like a cross between wine, beer, and rum. Good stuff.

Cookie Love

I'm feeling the cookie love right now ... for two reasons. First (and most importantly), I was greeted this morning to a message from Jess the Domestic Vegan telling me that I'd won the Liz Lovely cookie sampler contest! This is what I'll get from the incredible, yummy Liz Lovely vegan cookies company:


A few weeks ago, Jess asked her readers to name their favorite cookie and one commenter would be randomly chosen to win the sampler pack. My favorite cookies just so happen to be Liz Lovely Cowgirl Cookies. I've only had them once, when I ordered a package from VeganEssentials, but I savored those two cookies like they were gold. I only allowed myself 1/4 of the cookie at a time so they'd last longer. Now, that won't be a problem. Thanks Jess and Liz Lovely!

On another cookie note, I made Beltaine Passion Cookies from the Llewellyn's Witches Datebook:



These spicy balls, chock full of ginger, clove, and cinnamon, are supposed to awaken your inner passions. Beltaine, or May Day (May 1), is an ancient Gaelic holiday, celebrating the fertility of the Earth.


The cookies were very ginger-y. The recipe called for five teaspoons of ground ginger and 1/2 cup of crystallized ginger. I left the crystallized stuff out because it's nasty. I can't imagine how spicy they'd be with it! There were tasty, but nothing compared to Liz Lovely!