I’ve been sick. And I also broke my toe. But this soup changes everything, at least for the moment. It’s in Veganomicon so you’ll have to get the recipe that way you cheapskates.

Buckwheat has a wonderful sweet, earth flavor and aroma that makes everything smell so home-y. And it’s completely gluten free, which is confusing, since the word “wheat” is in its title. I’d been toying around with a gluten free pancake recipe for awhile and nothing really sang to me, but this morning I struck gold with these babies. They’re hearty pancakes for sure, but they’re also light and fluffy. I think the main difference in texture between these and white flour pancakes is that they’re a bit grainier and less flexible. But who cares if they’re less flexible because you’re not gonna’ bend them, you’re gonna’ eat them.

The recipe has quite a few ingredients that you probably don’t have laying around the house unless you’re a compulsive grocery shopper (like me) or follow a gluten free diet, so if you like, you can replace the quinoa and corn flour with whole wheat pastry flour (or regular flour) and leave out the tapioca flour and flax seeds. You may need to thin the batter with a bit of water in that case. The recipe is below.

Gluten Free Buckwheat Pancakes
Makes 8 five inch pancakes1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1/4 cup quinoa flour
1/4 cup corn flour (NOT cornmeal, corn flour is lighter)
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds (or flax meal)
2 tablespoons tapioca flour (cornstarch or arrowroot would be okay, too)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used soy)
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl, mix together all flours, flax seeds, tapioca, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Create a well in the center and add the remaining ingredients. Use a fork to mix well for about a minute. Let the batter rest, and preheat a large, non-stick or cast iron pan over medium-high heat.

When pan is hot, spray with a thin layer of cooking spray and use an ice cream scooper to pour batter and form pancakes. I did two at a time, but do as many as you can fit. The pancake should start to form little air bubbles, but not as much as “normal” pancakes do, so don’t worry. Cook for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes, then flip and cook for 2 minutes more. Keep warm on a plate covered with tin foil until ready to serve.

Serve with Earth Balance, maple syrup and fresh fruit.

It seems that the pumpkin fairy has visited kittee, too. Look at this genius invention - pumpkin pretzels!

Having had the opportunity to eat some of kittee’s eats in Portland over the summer, I am sure these are wonderful. And if you’ve never made pretzels before, what a perfect time to try something new. You boil the dough before baking, the whole time thinking, “This will never work.” But then it always works and you feel better than everyone else.

Speaking of being better than everyone else, I’ll post that pumpkin brownie recipe tomorrow. I’ve been really lazy. I mean busy. Blazy?

I’ll distract you with a shot of kittee with a chapati bikini. And don’t forget, kittee is now the food editor of Herbivore magazine. A new issue came out today so subscribe, get some wonderful recipes, read some enlightening articles and interviews, and support independent vegan media. Or I will make you feel really guilty.

Thank Zod for autumn. I have 6 cans of pumpkin in my pantry that need to get outta’ there and make room for something else. I don’t even know where they came from, it’s possible that I just kept forgetting if I had any canned pumpkin and my collection grew and grew, or it could be the canned pumpkin fairy. And I can’t eat pumpkin in warm weather, it throws off my equilibrium.

Last night I made these Pumpkin Pie Brownies. It’s a brownie base with pumpkin in the batter and then pumpkin pie filling is poured on top and they bake together in perfect harmony. Obviously, these would be like gold at any Halloween event.

Recipe has been added, just click “more.”

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Absolutely perfect for a rainy morning. Even though it eventually stopped raining. I can’t give you the recipe because I was recipe testing for the second issue of Don’t Eat Off the Sidewalk, but I can share these photos.

Chocolate Stout cupcake with kitten, from tramotana

A portly dog desires a vegan cupcakes, from heatherrrrrrr

Baby’s first cupcake, from cheapandplastic

Animal ButterCream, cupcakes from JSnow

Okay, that last one is kind of playing fast and loose with the rules of animal, but still.

This is my favorite way to construct the edges of a pie crust. It’s easy, you don’t have to trim anything and it looks rustic yet professional. Alls you do is press the crusts together, roll the edges inward, then take a knife and firmly score the roll at an angle, all around. Try it. It’s better looking than pressing with a fork and easier to pull off than pinching.

This particular pot pie has homemade seitan plus the usual suspects; peas, carrots, shallots. I used the seitan simmering broth to make the gravy, so nothing was wasted. Except for, like, my entire afternoon.

Terry and I will be doing a food demo at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden Chile Fiesta on Sunday Sept 30th. We’ll be doing Jewish-Latin Fusion; yuca latkes with chocolate chile mole and apple salsa. Plus, we’ll have mexican hot chocolate mini cupcakes to share. We’re on from 4:30 to 5:15. Every year I’ve been there there’s been a vegan chile and barn dancing under a tent. Sold?

Image stolen from hoveringdog

Well, obviously they’re vegan - I just titled it that way for google purposes. Or Ask Jeeves, if you prefer.

The PPK messages boards were clamouring for a version of these and what the PPK message board wants, the PPK message board gets. They taste pretty much as I remember them, although I can’t tell you the last time I had one since I am, like, what? A level 11 vegan by now? I didn’t bother coming up with a cutesy name for them, so if anyone can think of one, have at it!

Vegan Milanos
Makes 16 cookies

For those of us who miss suckling at the corporate teat of Pepperidge Farm, here is a veganized version of everyone’s favorite chocolate sandwich cookie. Even though there is a bit of orange zest in the batter, these aren’t orange flavored, the zest just kind of pulls everything together and gives a sunny note of somethin’ somethin’. I think bittersweet chocolate will give the most authentic flavor, but use semi-sweet if that’s what you got. And heed the directions to flour your hands before forming each cookie - otherwise the dough will stick.

1/3 cup rice milk (or soy, whatever you got)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
Scant 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

6 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped (or use chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease 2 large cookie sheets.

In a large mixing bowl, use a strong fork to mix together milk, sugar, oil, vanilla and zest.

Add half of the flour, along with the cornstarch, baking powder and salt; mix well. Add the remaining flour and mix until you have a soft, pliable dough.

Make sure your hands are very clean and dry, and dust them with flour. Stuffs about to get messy. Sort of.

Grab about 1 tablespoon’s worth of dough and roll it into a ball, and then roll into a log that’s about 1 1/2 inches long. Flatten with the palms of your hand to create an oval that is 2 inches long and 1 inch across, then straighten the edges out with your fingers. Basically, if you know what a milano looks like, that’s the shape your going for. But this is homemade, so don’t try to be perfect. You aren’t a machine (or are you?)

Continue with the rest of the dough, flouring your hands before you form each cookie, until you have 16 cookies placed about 1 inch apart (they don’t spread much.) I had to do this in 2 batches because of my small oven, so while these baked I started my next batch of 16. If you’ve got a big oven then do both trays of 16 at once.

Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, until tops are firm and edges are ever so slightly browned. Remove from oven and let rest for 2 minutes. Use a thin, flexible spatula to transfer to a cooling rack. Meanwhile, bake your next batch and melt your chocolate*.

Once cookies are cool enough to handle (only about 10 minutes), take a cookie and dip the bottom into the chocolate. Then take another cookie and dip it, and place the dipped sides together to form a sandwich. Don’t press them hard lest the chocolate smush out. Place them on a tray or several plates that will fit in your fridge. Continue with the remaining cookies until you have 16 sandwiches. Have a wet rag at the ready to wipe your fingers between putting the cookies together, to avoid chocolate fingerprints on the cookies. Or just lick the chocolate off. Or just decide that who cares about chocolate fingerprints.

Place cookies in the fridge to set for at least an hour. Bring back to room temperature before serving (about 1/2 an hour.) Call it a day.

*You know how to melt chocolate, right?

Pattrice Jones, author of Aftershock and founder of the Eastern Shore Sanctuary, has posted a number of talks by her and others from the AR conferences over the years. So instead of searching for 80s glam metal videos on youtube today, why not give these a listen? Pattrice is not only insightful and informative about animal and human liberation, she’s also funny and engaging.