(AKA Pecan Sand Tarts AKA Russian Tea Cakes)

My boyfriend just can't refuse anything containing walnuts, pecans, cashews, almonds (you get the idea...). I can't really stand them, but we're definitely on the same page when it comes to these perfectly buttery, powdery cookies.

These cookies have many names. To me, they're Mexican wedding cookies or sand tarts. My mom would make these in the winter and I was pretty sure Chris would appreciate coming home to a plate full of these. I wasn't really in the cookie-making mood, so I put the idea off for a few days. After making them, I felt silly for waiting so long. They are so effortless and take such a short amount of time to prepare. In fact, you might get the urge to make a few batches.

Not only are they easy to make, but they are seriously addicting. A bite into one of these powdery beauties reminds me of butter pecan ice cream. It's creamy with chunks of pecan and a buttery cookie brings it all together. Really though, there's no way I could describe the taste.

I love that they look so rustic. Each cookie is hand-shaped, baked, rolled in powdered sugar, cooled and rolled in powdered sugar once more. Shape these in circles, balls or crescents; just make them small because they're delicate little devils. Enjoy! You probably have all of these ingredients in your kitchen, so get to it.

INGREDIENTS

• 6 oz Pecan Pieces
• 6 Tablespoons vegan Sugar
• 2 sticks vegan Margarine, at room temp
• 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 2 Cups Flour
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• Powdered Sugar, for rolling

Makes 20 cookies

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 F
2. Mix flour and salt (no need to sift), set aside
3. In another bowl, combine sugar 4 Tablespoons sugar and vegan margarine. (until fluffy)
4. Mix 2 Tablespoons sugar and pecans, set aside
5. Add-in vanilla, flour/salt mix and nut mix.
6. Mix for 1 minute.
7. Make 1 " circles, balls, crescents (all about 1 Tablespoon of dough) and place them on a cookie sheet
8. Bake for 10-11 minutes. (parchment paper makes things fool-proof)
9. Individually move each cookie from the cookie sheet into a bowl of powdered sugar. Once it's completely coated, carefully transfer it to a cooling rack. Do this to all cookies. Once all cookies have cooled, roll each one in powdered sugar once more.

These can store up to 5 days in a sealed container. No need to refridgerate, unless you live in extremely warm climate.

Several months ago, while browsing the produce section of our local grocer, Chris and I ran into an old friend. We told him about our bakery and food blog, and immediately he tells us that we must make avocado pie. I'm sure we made some sort of face at the idea and moved along. Even for avocado lovers...an avocado pie sounds weird. The other day, I was thinking of something to make. Out of nowhere, I recall a voice saying "make avocado pie". I looked up all of the recipes for avocado pie (there's like a handful, none of them are vegan) and decided what my next move was going to be. This is a recipe that you'll love. It's veganized and tested, tweaked and carefully created to blow your taste buds right off of your tongue.

Let me talk about the flavor while my taste buds are still buzzing. This tastes a lot like kiwi, believe it or not. The texture is like a cheesecake, but it isn't one at all. It's light, refreshing and very smooth. Its flavor can be likened to avocado, lime juice, cream cheese, a small amount of sugar and sweetened condensed soy milk. Did I mention you don't even have to turn your oven on for this?

PIE INGREDIENTS

• 1 Graham Cracker Crust (avoid premade, recipe below)
• 2 Large Ripe Avocados (pitted, peeled and pureed)
• 1/2 Cup Fresh Lime Juice
• 1 Tablespoon Agar Powder
• 5 Ounces sweetened condensed soy milk (see recipe below)
• 1/3 Cup Vegan Cream Cheese

• 20 Graham Crackers
• 3/4 Cup Vegan Margerine (Do NOT melt.)

• 3/4 Cup Better Than Milk Soy Powder
• 3/4 Cup Water
• 6 Tablespoons Vegan Margerine
• 1 1/2 Cups Sugar
• 1/8 Teaspoon Salt

GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST DIRECTIONS

1. Crumble graham crackers (food processor is the best for this).
2. In a mixing bowl, use a fork or your fingers to mix margerine with graham cracker crumbs.
3. In a pie dish/pan, use your hands to form a graham cracker crust.
4. Set aside until pie filling is ready to be poured into your pie crust.

1. Mix water and soy milk powder.
2. Boil or microwave on high for 1.5 minutes. Set aside.
3. In a separate pan on the stove, melt margerine on MED-HI.
4. Once it's melted, add sugar to melted margarine. Whisk immediately to incorporate. You don't need to worry about "cooking" the sugar. The texture should be fluffy and powdery.
5. Immediately, add hot soymilk mixture and salt to the margerine/sugar mixture.
6. Gently Boil for 5 minutes.
7. Cool until ready to use (I usually stick mine in the freezer for a minute to cool quickly)
8. The recipe makes much more than you need for the pie so expect to have extra.

1. Puree avocado (I like to turn ON my food processor as I drop-in the avocado pieces, to avoid avocado chunks in the puree)
2. While the food processor is still smoothing the avocados, add-in vegan cream cheese.
3. Once they are completely combined, turn OFF the food processor.
4. Juice your limes and bring the lime juice to a gentle boil on your stovetop.
5. Once boiling, REMOVE from heat and ADD agar powder. QUICKLY whisk the agar into the lime juice.
6. Once the thickened lime juice is a little cooler, turn ON your food processor again (it still has the avocado and cream cheese mixture in it) and add-in your thickened lime juice.
7. Finally, get your cooled sweetened condensed soymilk and ADD (ONLY 5 OUNCES) to the food processor with the other ingredients.
8. Once it's completely incorperated, turn OFF your food processor.

1. Pour avocado pie filling into graham cracker crust.
2. Chill overnight.

It's yummy as is. If you're really treating yourself, add some chocolate sauce, vegan whipped cream, shaved chocolate and graham cracker crumbs. And, take a seat.

These biscuits are a thing of our lazy Sundays. On these days, we put breakfast off until noon and we only leave the house for long walks around the hills and trails of our neighborhood. We figure after our intense past week and whatever the next week has to bring--we deserve it. This morning, we stayed home from work and decided to take it equally as easy since our weekend didn't prove too relaxing. We had our Sunday biscuits on Wednesday--so shoot me. These like all quick breads, don't require rising. I made biscuits and gravy for my dad on Father's day while visiting this month. These go perfect with jelly, vegan margerine, or smothered in my country gravy.

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Cup Flour
• 1 Teaspoons Salt, depending on how much salt you like (I usually do 2)
• 1 Tablespoon Sugar
• 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
• 2/3 Cup Soymilk
• 1/3 Cup Vegetable Shortening

DIRECTIONS

1. PREHEAT oven to 425
2. In a bowl, sift: Flour, Salt, Baking Powder and Sugar
3. Add in Soymilk and Vegetable Shortening. Mix and knead.
4. Keep Kneading until the dough in manageable.
5. Turn bowl onto a floured surface.
6. TIP: I like to use plastic wrap on my surface. Before rolling the dough, I place another sheet of plastic wrap on the top and roll. The dough won't stick to your rolling pin.
7. Roll the dough out 1/2" thick.
8. With a biscuit cutter, cut about 8 circles.
9. Place on a baking sheet or baking stone.
10. Bake 8-10 minutes.
11. Remove from the oven and top with your favorate spread or gravy.

Here is a warm biscuit with raspberry preserves.

You must try it with my country gravy. It's the ultimate southern comfort breakfast.

This experiment was inspired by a friend at work. Last week, I brought in various vegan food for a cookout. Among the things I brought were some grilled chickpea cutlets (a la Veganomicon by Isa and Terry). My non-vegan friend loved them and said that they reminded her of salmon croquettes. From what I could remember, she was right! The texture was right, but the flavor needed to be tweaked big time.

Usually, kitchen experiments end with an upset version of myself reflecting on all of the ingredients I wasted. Not this time. I made the base of the chickpea cutlet recipe and created a vegan, almost eerily salmon-esque croquette. This dish is sure to satisfy any vegan who is craving the familiar taste of fish--without the actual fish. See? Everyone wins and it's delicious.

Additionally, these are baked unlike traditional croquettes which are fried. I used nori sheets to replicate the fishy flavor that's so necessary in such a dish.  There's some beet juice for color. If you don't have it, just sub water. I have to tell you that if you weren't crazy about fish as a pregan (before you were vegan), then you won't like this. It tastes almost exactly like fish. While I loved the flavor, I just couldn't dig in like it was a zesty burrito or anything. This is perfect for a summer lunch or light dinner, though. Top it with your favorite sauce.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/3 Cup Soy Yogurt
• 1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard
• 2 Egg Replacer Eggs
• 1/2 Cup Onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 Cup Celery, finely chopped
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil for Sauteeing
• 1 Cup Cooked Chickpeas
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1/2 Cup Vital Wheat Gluten
• 3 Tablespoons Beet Juice
• 1 Cup Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
• 1/4 Teaspoon Terragon
• 1/8 Teaspoon Black Pepper
• 1/8 Teaspoon Salt
• 1 Cup Nori sheets, finely chopped using food processor
• 1/2 Cup Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs for coating)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a bowl, mix soy yogurt, mustard and egg replacer eggs. Set aside.
2. Cook chickpeas.
3. Meanwhile, in a separate pan saute onion and celery with 1 tablespoon Olive Oil. Cool.
4. Mash cooked chickpeas with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add in vital wheat gluten and mustard/soy yogurt/egg replacer mixture to the chickpeas.
5. In a food processor, place several nori sheets and chop them until you have 1 cup of very finely chopped nori.
6. Add in the rest of the ingredients EXCEPT 1/2 cup Panko reserved for coating.
7. PREHEAT OVEN TO 375 F
8. Form the croquettes. I used a biscuit cutter as a mold and pressed some of the croquette mixture into it. Pull the cutter away from the formed croquette, and you're ready to coat.
9. In a bowl, have the 1/2 Cup Panko ready to coat the small patties.
10. Roll the patties around in the panko until they are evenly coated.
11. Lightly oil a baking sheet. Bake them for 8 minutes, and flip. Bake another 8 minutes to finish the other side.
12. Top with your favorite sauce and enjoy.
13. You can also squeeze a lime wedge and drizzle its juices over the top.

This week, I'll be sharing my new and improved Avocado Pie recipe along with my Sunday biscuits!

Yesterday, we thought we should try making tortellini from scratch. We had all day and figured we could take our time and give it the TLC it needed. We stuffed them with shredded Teese and my Tofu Ricotta.
They were so good. I don't even have a pasta roller so everything was done by hand. We dressed them up with two different sauces. One sauce is a regular tomato pasta sauce and the other is a creamy garlic alfredo sauce that Chris and I have been working on. It tastes amazing, but isn't as creamy or beautiful as I'd like it to be. Until then, we aren't sharing it. (Sorry, but we will share that recipe once it's fool proof and perfect.) Make these tortellini when you have time though. They are so worth the work and every bite is a burst of cheesy creaminess.

INGREDIENTS

3 Cups Flour
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 1/2 teaspoons Olive Oil
4 Ener-G Egg Replacer "Eggs"
6 Tablespoons Water

1 Tofu Ricotta Recipe with 1/2 Cup shredded Teese

PREPARING THE PASTA DOUGH

1. Sift flour and salt into a large bowl. Trust me, doing it on parchment paper was NOT a good idea.
2. In a separate cup: mix water, oil and "eggs" together.
3. Make a well in the middle of the flour/salt mixture.



4. Pour egg/water/oil mix into the well.
5. With your fingers, knead until the dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl.
6. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for 1 hour on counter.
**During this time, PREPARE THE TOFU RICOTTA/TEESE FILLING**
7. After an hour, either put it through your pasta roller OR separate it into 4 parts and roll out each part flat with a rolling pin. I just rolled them out as thin as possible, used a knife to cut a rectangle and put the scraps to the side. The scraps later became the fifth rectangle.



8. Place your pieces side by side (above are 3 out of 5). Give them another firm roll if you're using a rolling pin.



9. Cut squares that are about about 2"x2". Brush them with a light coating of olive oil.

STUFFING AND SHAPING THE TORTELLINI



1. In the center of each square, drop about 1/2 - 1 teaspoon of tofu ricotta/teese filling.



2. To form a triangle, take one end and press it into the opposite end of the square.



3. Press all sides firmly. You can even stretch out the corners so they are easier to fold.



4. Pick up the triangle, so the top is facing you.



5. Fold the top corner of the triangle over the opposite side of the triangle, leaving a flap.



6. Pick it up and wrap the bottom corners around your fingertip.



7. Press and seal the corners together.



8. Viola! It's a beautiful tortellini. Do this about... 50 times.



This was the final product.

9. Boil the tortellini in lightly salted water for about 3 minutes. They will float to the top when almost ready. Remove them from the water once al dente. I had to boil in three batches, by the way.

Tortellini with creamy alfredo sauce



Tortellini with tomato pasta sauce and shredded Teese