Cooking Monkey

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August 16th 2008 @ 03:49

Posted By: Patricia Resnick - Category: No Category

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Chocolate as Therapy

A Delicious Vegan Chocolate Cake

So you're a vegan, but you haven't given up dessert. You can find delicious soy ice "cream" but you need cake to put under it! I mean, you can eat cake without ice cream, or ice cream without cake, but the two belong together.

All the cake recipes in the cookbooks have eggs or butter or both. And you can try substitution, but that gets tricky when you're baking. Let's solve the dilemma!

This is going to be the easiest cake you've ever made. You don't even need a bowl unless you want to frost it. Here's what you do:

1) Turn the oven to 350 degrees F. Take half a stick of vegan margarine out of the refrigerator.

2) Take an 8 by 8 inch pan, and put the following ingredients into it:

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
3 tbsp. unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
1/4 tsp. salt
Stir these ingredients thoroughly with a whisk.

3) Make a well in these dry ingredients, and put the following into it:

3 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract

4) Mix the following and pour it over everything in the pan:

1 cup water
2 tsp. vinegar

Working quickly, use the whisk to combine the ingredients thoroughly. If there's still a streak of flour here and there, that's okay, but you don't want a lot of lumps.

5) Put the cake in the oven and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until it springs back when gently pushed in the center. Do not over bake; if the sides are starting to pull away from the pan, pull it out of the oven now!

6) Allow the cake to cool. While it's cooling, take the vegan margarine and whip it with a mixer. When it's gotten soft and fluffy, add about 2 cups of powdered (icing) sugar and 1 tsp. of vanilla. Mix slowly, at first, so you don't throw sugar all over the kitchen and yourself. As it combines and thickens, add vanilla soy milk or creamer 1 tbsp. at a time, until it reaches perfect frosting consistency.

7) The cake should be cool by now, so frost it!

* If you want to turn the cake out and frost the sides also, mix it in a bowl, grease the pan and dust it with cocoa before adding the cake batter.
* You can double these recipes. If you want to bake a layer cake, double the recipe (including the frosting) and use two 8 inch round pans.

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August 15th 2008 @ 06:20

Posted By: Patricia Resnick - Category: No Category

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Chewing, or How to Live on Mashed Potatoes (LINK)

I've been having tooth trouble lately, which means a hard time chewing. Lots of egg sandwiches, peanut butter, soy milk, oatmeal, and MASHED POTATOES.
I never thought I'd get tired of mashed potatoes. I'm Irish and German, I have potatoes in my blood, for heaven's sake. Well, potatoes and beer.
If I never see another spud again, I'll be fine. Well, until next Thanksgiving, anyway. I still remember the Thanksgiving after I'd been in bed sick for two weeks. All I could eat was the potatoes and gravy, and I was in heaven. Shows how your perspective can change.
I think I just need an attitude adjustment. Maybe I should throw some vodka in the gravy.
I did find something fun earlier on YouTube. Take a look at the link up top!

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August 14th 2008 @ 07:45

Posted By: Patricia Resnick - Category: No Category

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So sue me, it's yummy AND healthy!

I'm enjoying my snack so much! It's 4:15am, I have to be ready to leave in less than two hours, so I'm doing what's easy and works.
I have a bowl of cherries, blueberries and red grapes. I have saltine crackers. And I have unsalted peanut butter. And iced water. And it's all just plain yummy. There's doggie bag Thai in the fridge, and it's a bit tempting, but I'll save that for breakfast next hour.
There's a new sushi place just opening this weekend at Apple Valley Road. That will make three sushi restaurants in the vicinity of the same intersection in this hick town! I never thought I'd see the day. When I first moved up here six years ago, I had to drive to Victorville (15 miles) to get mediocre to awful Japanese food. Now they're competing for me

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August 8th 2008 @ 11:24

Posted By: Patricia Resnick - Category: No Category

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Golden Chopstix Again!

Okay, I'll blame the earthquake. It just kinda threw a monkey wrench into the day.
I was going to buy dinner for my brother and cook at home for me and my mom, but we're all eating take-out Chinese tonight. It's good, not great, but it's easy and filling. And it means we get to watch the followup earthquake coverage. My God, Kate Hutton's hair is completely white!

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July 30th 2008 @ 04:10

Posted By: Patricia Resnick - Category: No Category

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Okay, so it's off topic! (LINK)

Tthis is off topic. And not pertinent to the enlightened people outside the United States who might be reading this. Bear with me, it's been a rough week. This is not off topic, because in order to enjoy eating food, one must be able to chew adequately. I can't do that. I'm missing enough teeth (eight, mostly on the bottom) that I have very little chewing surface. I can't eat properly, I hurt a lot, and I'm embarrassed to smile. And I'm on a heavy duty med that means it may keep happening.
I still have the first tooth I ever lost as an adult. It was about 5 years ago. I've saved it in my medicine bag as a symbol of my status as a crone. But enough truly is enough.

The horror! The horror!

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July 27th 2008 @ 11:24

Posted By: Patricia Resnick - Category: No Category

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Oops!

Well, the best laid plans of mice and cooks...I ended up with a massive toothache, and the chicken just got forgotten. I went ahead and cooked it today, but I didn't trust it, so we tossed it.
On the bright side, my brother made some of his absolutely killer fried rice. I don't know how he does it, and he won't give specific answers. And he doesn't use what I've been taught are must have ingredients, most notably oyster sauce. And he makes the best fried rice I've ever eaten.
So, my sore mouth had fried rice and soy ice cream for dinner. And a piece of stone ground whole wheat hazelnut bread with butter. I've got to get more water pumped into me with these antibiotics, but right now I'm just going back to bed

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July 23rd 2008 @ 03:52

Posted By: Patricia Resnick - Category: No Category

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Gotta BBQ Me Some Chicken!

Well, it won't be anything original, but it should be good. I got a bulk pack of chicken leg quarters and three bottles of different barbecue sauces. So, chop the chicken pieces into legs and thighs, mix in a BIG bowl (it's LOTS of chicken) with the sauces and a few additional things, like blackberry honey, soy sauce, maybe some Dijon mustard, oregano (just because we have a ton), and whatever else comes to mind. Ooooh, a bit of orange juice!
Then spread out on a pan (foil-covered) and bake until done. Put in the refrigerator and have food for the three of us for several days, at least protein-wise.
Actually, it sounds pretty good about now. If it wasn't almost 3:30 in the morning I'd go out there and do it. I'll say it's because I don't want to wake anyone up, but it's really because I'm a sleepy wimp

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July 21st 2008 @ 10:36

Posted By: Patricia Resnick - Category: No Category

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Cook, Damnit! (LINK)

I'm tired of people who won't cook. Can't cook is bad enough, but won't cook pisses me off. I just went and got takeout (take-away) Chinese for two people for two days for $16. Plus gas, wear and tear on the car, and my time and wear and tear on me.

Now I'll admit it from the start; I mostly love this [shall be nameless] food. Nothing fancy, no unpleasant surprises, HUGE portions for a good price. It's your good, basic, fast, cheap American/Chinese, done pretty well for a chain. Okay, Golden Chopstix. Or something like that. I DO wish they'd use fresh mushrooms. There, I've said it. And some depth of flavor in the Hot and Sour Soup would be nice. I have to balance that with location, close, and price, very low. And it's drive through. And they've NEVER screwed up an order. And they're always nice. That's a fair bargain.
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July 19th 2008 @ 01:24

Posted By: Patricia Resnick - Category: No Category

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Oooooh, Bananas!!!!

I'm not the cooking monkey tonight, I'm the eating monkey. We have an oversupply of bananas and they have to get eaten, so I'm doing my level best to help the cause.
I know I should do something frugal and clever with them, but there's also something soul satisfying about knowing THE BANANAS HAVE TO GET USED!
Actually, I think I'll put one in with the peaches and tofu, which I still haven't gotten to. But now I'm sorta glad I didn't because I hadn't thought about freezing it in a plastic bag, which would make it a lot easier to moosh it up every hour or so to break up the ice crystals.
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