COOKED: Tomato Basil Cream Pasta

Thanks to a beautiful photograph of her Tomato Basil Cream Pasta over at Vegan Yum Yum, I was inspired to make this delicious dish for dinner tonight.

But the reason I was most excited about it was because it was going to be the first time I would use my new food processor!

Kitten kept me company by lying on top of my to-do list, as I researched all the ingredients I would need.

Do you know how crazy the Internet is? One part of the recipe called for "coring the tomato". Huh? I didn't know what that meant. So I just googled it, and within seconds I came across a guy's website where he had an actual video of himself coring a tomato, explaining how to do it. Guess what? Not hard at all. Guess what? If I was Laura Ingalls, living in Prairie days, and I didn't know how to core a tomato, I'd have to run 3 miles over to Nellie Olsen's house, and see if Mrs. Olsen could give me a quick lesson in her kitchen. And then run all the way home so as to get supper ready in time before Pa came home from the Mill. I am so glad I don't live in Prairie days!

So the recipe title for this dish actually included the phrase, "Super Quick". Ha. Yeah, maybe not so much. But it was still really fun to make. It probably took an hour.

And Mom, the FP worked great! I even shot a video of it so you could enjoy the fruits of our labor...

What did I mix up in there?? Hmm, 1 large tomato, cashews, a little water, tomato paste. It worked so well and I was so excited! Later on, the recipe says to add a handful of chopped basil. Well, no problem! I just traded out the big bowl for the little bowl with the little blade, and chopped that basil right up in no time. I'm so glad we chose the FP with all the extra bowls, it was such a time saver, because I kept exchanging one for the other.

Final product

So, the dish turned out utterly delightful. I even decided to make steamed greens with sauteed almonds (a la Mom), which were perfect.



Now, if only someone could help me with the last task!

COOKED: No-wheat Chocolate Chip cookies

I made these!

RECIPE: Veganomicon, page 237


A few notes:


1. Instead of wheat flour, you use oat flour. I still had some left over from the veggie-burger fiesta.

2. I was sans brown-sugar, and it called for a quarter cup of that, in addition to regular granulated sugar (half cup). So I substituted the brown sugar with Agave. Somewhere online I read that if you use Agave instead of sugar, you should add a quarter cup extra of flour because Agave is liquid. So I did that.

3. Mom, you gave me the extra sifter you had in the house. But it was so annoying to use! Is it just the way sifters are, or is this one outdated? I poured all of the flour (plus baking powder and salt) into it at once and started sifting. But in a minute, my hand started hurting, and no flour was coming out of the bottom of the sifter. So I started hitting it against the side like I remember you doing, but it just felt awkward. Eventually, I poured it out and started putting the flour back in the sifter in much smaller portions. I had to keep shaking it and hitting it in order for it come out. Am I not getting something about sifters? (feel free to leave a comment if you know the answer).

4. It seems to be a trend for me that anything I cook will always be more liquidy than expected. It was probably because of the Agave. So when I used a tablespoon to glop out the cookie portions on the tray, it spread a little wider than I think it was supposed to.

5. The recipe called for flax seeds. Which I have. But today I learned that flax seeds are worthless unless you grind them up. And I don't have a coffee grinder, which most people say they use for this purpose. And I didn't feel like the food processor would be that economical for just a tablespoon of ground flax seeds. So I left it out of the recipe this time. I will buy pre-ground flax seed powder at the supermarket. And give this bag to Dad, who does have a grinder, and will be happy to add these to his smoothies.

END RESULT: I think they're pretty good! I might have let them bake too long. They turned out pretty flat, not moist and fluffy. I don't know what was supposed to happen, really. But I'll bring them to work tomorrow and see what people say.

News: Let's All Agree

You don't need me to tell you who to vote for.

If you weren't swayed by one of the pep rallies that aired this month (I'm sorry, I mean "conventions"), then I sure as heck ain't gonna sway you.

I promised my sponsors that I wouldn't endorse one candidate over the other on this blog, and I'm a gal who keeps her word. However, I will say this. If you are voting for a candidate whose last name rhymes with Insane, then we are probably not sitting at the same lunch table in the cafeteria.

But that's OK. Because the one thing that we can all agree on fer shure, is that this presidential race is HISTORIC. Or, as the case may be, HERSTORIC.

Never before have we had the names of a [ed note: insert politically correct gender term] and a [ed note: insert politically correct ethnic term] in the same voting booth. How bout that? Way to go USA!

It got me thinking, which other dynamic duos is this world ready for? Who's missing from this ticket that should definitely represent at the next election?

Well, since you asked so nicely, I'll give you the list of duos who deserve their moment in the political sun:

1. A Jewish guy in a wheelchair, versus an Asian woman with a Texan accent.

2. An Hispanic lesbian, versus a gay Native American.

3. A reality star whose slogan will be, "I didn't come here to make friends", versus a Scientologist.

4. An x-child star whose rehab stint was already chronicled in a Lifetime movie in the 80's, versus Tracy Gold.

5. An actor whose credentials include, "playing a president on TV", versus the guy who invented Facebook.

6. Snoop Dog, versus Elliot Spitzer.

7. Anyone under the age of 30, versus a bald guy.

8. Chelsea Clinton, versus Ivanka Trump.

9. Judge Judy, versus Dr. Phil.

10. A moose-hunting PTA hockey mom, versus the guy who starred in Bedtime For Bonzo.