A bit of catchup...and a new addition

Yep, the biggest food holiday of the year happens and and I disappear from food blogging. Life's been getting in the way for the past few weeks...finally moving into the new house completely, Thanksgiving with lots of traveling and visiting family (and cooking), a little bit of new neighbor drama and a very distracting new addition to the family.


May I introduce Brannigan Asher Cogburn, aka Asher. He's a 2 (we think) year-old "big brown dog" who came home to us 2 weeks ago Friday after a 6 month stay at the CNYSPCA and is just about the sweetest thing.

I love this dog, I can't imagine life without him..and judging by the fact that he is currently stretched out on the couch, snoring loudly, he doesn't mind life with us too much either...even if he does have to put up with lots of hugs from Katie.

Anyway, yeah, back to the food. Even though we were spending Thanksgiving up near Rochester with my uncle and his family, I made lots of food....such is necessary when one is a vegan who is allergic to wheat. I felt kind of awkward bringing so much food but its a good thing we did since there wouldn't have been anything but salad for either of us to eat otherwise.

My mother gamely agreed to make a vegan, wheat free corn pudding (see recipe below), which came out awesome, though I have no photos. We brought orange-glazed roasted veggies


and a very stereotypical lentil loaf (only I used brown rice and added chopped craisins...just cuz) with mushroom gravy



and, for dessert, Chocolate Peanut butter Pretzel Pie, which, may I just say, was one of the most fabulous things I've had in a long time, despite the pretzels being less than crunchy since I had to make it the night before.


Ok, recipes...

Wheat-Free Vegan Corn Pudding

1 cup coarse cornmeal
1 c gluten-free baking flour blend or baking mix (if using baking mix, omit baking powder below)
1/4 c sugar or desired sweetener
1 tsp baking powder
1 can creamed corn
1 can whole kernel corn, UNDRAINED
1 med onion, chopped and sauteed until soft
2 eggs equivalent of your favorite vegan egg replacer (we used Ener-G)
1 1/4 cup tofu sour cream (see below)
1/4 c vegetable oil
1/4 c unsweetened applesauce
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp garlic powder


Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray a 9"x13" casserole pan w/ non-stick spray.

Combine all the above ingredients and pour into prepared pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until golden brown around the edges...it will still be moist in the middle so the whole clean-knife trick won't work here, but it still tastes awesome if it is a bit underdone anyway. Let sit at least 10 minutes before serving. Is also excellent cold with a little maple syrup drizzled on top...

Tofu Sour cream

1 package lite firm silken tofu
4-5 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp cider vinegar
1 tsp sweetener of choice (agave nectar works well here)
1/2 tsp salt

Combine everything in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Adjust acidity/sweetness/saltiness to taste. Makes about 1 1/4-1 1/2 cups.

I don't really have a recipe for the veggies, but basically whisk together OJ concentrate, a little maple syrup, some cider vinegar, a little olive oil, some sage, some rosemary and lots of fresh ground black pepper, then toss over chopped up veggies of your choice (we used brussel sprouts, beets, butternut squash, onions, garlic cloves and turnips) and roast at 425 until they look done, stirring occasionally.

Now that we are getting settled into the new house, hopefully I'll manage to take more food photos and do some more experimenting worthy of being shared.