First post!

Hello world! Although I expect no one will ever read this, and to basically use this blog as a glorified record-keeping system, if you are reading, awesome. I'm a recently recommitted vegan, and a graduate of culinary school, and even though I've abandoned professional cooking to avoid an early, stress-induced death, I still love cooking. Unfortunately my repertoire has become repetitive, so I'm going back to cookbooks. The plan is to make vegan recipes, or vegan adaptation of recipes, from published sources, and then to review them. Also, there's a good chance my hobby interest will veer away from cooking and back towards knitting at any moment, so don't be too shocked if I get off topic discussing this quarter's Vogue Knitting.

I have a little catching up to do, so there will be quite a few recipes reviewed today.

From Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World, by Moskowitz and Romero

Crimson Velveteen cupcakes 8/10
I couldn't find the recipe at first, because I was looking for red velvet...I made the fake cream cheese frosting. These were very good.

Chocolate Stout cupcakes 7/10
The cake part of these cupcakes is good, but the crumb topping is better.

Vanilla cupcakes with chocolate buttercream 6/10
I'm going to have to make the buttercream again now that I have an electric mixer. But for now, nice, simple cupcakes. By the way, I used oil not margarine.

Pistachio Rosewater cupcakes10/10
And I quote, "This is the best thing I've ever tasted!" Thanks, Emily.

From Vegan With a Vengeance, by Moskowitz

Roasted Applesauce 10/10
What do you do with a bag full of not-so-crisp apples? Every single time, you make exactly this applesauce. Or else.

From The Mediterranean Vegan Diet by Donna Klein
Squash gnocchi with Walnut Sauce 7/10
I made this for Christmas eve dinner. The sauce is like pesto, except instead of basil and pine nuts, it's parsley and walnut. The gnocchi isn't too hard to make, but I would definitely suggest freezing the shaped dumplings before boiling them.

Rice Salad with Saffron and Green Olives 9/10
This salad is super easy to make and wicked delicious. I only wish I could buy castelvetrano olives on the east size of this state.

From The Asian Vegan Kitchen by Hema Parekh
Assorted Vegetables in Cashew Gravy
Burdock and Carrot Kimpira

From The Tropical Vegan Kitchen by Donna Klein
Philippine-Style Eggplant in Coconut Cream over Rice 5/10
This recipe was just okay.

From Veganomicon by Moskowitz and Romero
Pumpkin Baked Ziti with Caramelized Onions and Sage Crumb Toppings 8/10
This is the comfort food version of butternut ravioli with sage brown butter sauce. Yummy.

Cholent 7/10
This is a vegan variation on a Jewish stew. It calls for TVP chunks, but I couldn't find any, so I used seitan. I also substituted butter beans for the lima beans, because lima beans still don't appeal to me after years of frozen vegetable mix. This is a really tasty stew, and it's the best use of kidney beans I've come across yet.

From Vegan Cookies Invade your Cookie Jar by Moskowitz and Romero

Citygirl Snickerdoodles 7/10
These cookies have a great flavor, according to my roommate the best she's ever tasted, but the lingering mouth feel isn't so hot, actually, it's just like the mouth feel that straight Earth Balance sticks have. Maybe if I make them again, I'll try to find different vegan margarine.

Second round I reduced the baking from 12 minutes at 350 to 10 at 325, and now these are hitting more like a 9.5. They are crisp and chewy and the mouthfeel is gone. Hurray!