Wub Wub Wub...

For 35 to 40 hours a week, I work under the beat of Dub step. Sometimes there is relief, sometimes there is something different, but for the most part the beat lives on. Indefinitely. In my mind. Oh, God.

But, on a happier note, I have made the best vegan brownies I ever did eat. Glorious! Some have even made the bold claim that they are the best brownies they've eaten PERIOD. But again, that's a bold claim, and I don't know if we should go that far.



THE BEST VEGAN BROWNIES I EVER DID EAT

Preheat oven to 325.

1/3 cup tofu (approximately 1/6 of a block)
1/3 cup soy milk

Process the tofu in a food processor until smooth. Mix in the "milk." Pour into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Mix in

1 cup vegan granulated sugar

Meanwhile, melt together in the microwave

1/3 cup chocolate chips
3 1/2 tablespoons Earth Balance

Once melted, stir this into the tofu mix. Also into the bowl goes

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Mix well. Finally, stir in

1/4-1/3 cup chocolate chips

Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Allow to cool before cutting, if you have the willpower.

I know, I know. You can thank me later.

Tofu Scramble

Its early August, and the vegetable season in Michigan is approaching its peak. Or maybe it's already hit its peak. Sort of like peak oil, except not nearly as disastrous. More like miraculous! I'm not sure something like this can be gauged. Or can it?

Bamfi.

Since we entered this glorious time of the year a couple weeks ago, my vegan cooking has been incredibly simple. Most recipes go something like this:

Ingredients: Vegetables. Olive Oil. Salt.

Procedure: Cut up vegetable, if you feel like it. Drizzle with some olive oil and sprinkle with salt.

Eat.

While these simple meals provide me, a fanatical vegetable eater, with all the satisfaction and joy I could ever want, they don't exactly make for the most exciting blog posts. What is exciting, dear readers, is living it. Summer in Michigan is short. So I urge you to take it all in.

Go outside and check out the garden. Watch your plants. Pull a few weeds. Harvest some veggies. Don't have a garden? Visit someone else's. Try here, or here, or here. I'll go with you!

Browse a farmer's market. Scope out every stand before you decide what to buy. Talk to people. Don't forget your reusable shopping bags! And when you've tired of crunching raw veggies, maybe I could suggest this Oops! take on a vegan classic - Tofu Scramble.




Ingredients:

1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
4 big leaves of kale, chopped
3/4 cup green beans, chopped
1 block tofu
2ish teaspoons ground cumin
1ish teaspoon ground coriander
2ish teaspoons chili powder
1/2ish teaspoon ground tumeric
a few dashes of soy sauce

Drain and crumble the tofu into a small bowl, squeezing out as much water as you can. Set aside. Heat the oil in a skillet and fry the onions until they begin to soften. Add the garlic, green bell pepper, and green beans and cook until the veggies turn bright green, stirring often. Add the spices and cook for a few seconds more, then throw in the tofu and stir until everything is combined. Add the kale and some soy sauce, and let it all hang out until the kale is wilted. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Serve with toast, tea, and some cucumbers and tomatoes from the garden, dressed in olive oil and a little salt :)

THE SHOW MUST GO ON.

Hello, friends.

It's been awhile since we've updated. Our apologies. Following the loss of Oops! beloved mascot and favorite team member, Carly, kitchen inspiration was lost. I ate a lot of crap for two weeks because I was lacking any and all creativity for cooking. Cereal happened to be dinner often. Or vegan pizza roll knock-offs.

Additionally, I was away for a bit competing in the Great Lakes Relay, a running race that goes across the Great Mitten State, starting in Rogers City and ending on the shore of Lake Michigan in Empire. Although my team suffered disastrous injuries and ultimately spent the third day playing Wiffle ball and drinking booze at the finish line instead of running, it was a good, adventurous time. Cars wouldn't start when we'd need to be at the starting line, runners were lost as a result of terrible directions, interesting people were seen engaging in such activities as walking their dogs out the windows of their trucks while towing a boat, having to drive underneath a developing tornado on the way home...Adventure! Curiosities! Danger! And long walks on the beach, holding a pole proudly displaying our team number (78).



Anyhow, I'm sure you're looking forward to the recipe that marks our valiant return. It is a lovely one!

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bars



Preheat oven to 325.

1/6 block of tofu
1/3 cup soy milk
4 T Earth Balance

Combine in food processor until smooth. Add

3/4 cup light brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar

Put into a medium-sized bowl. In a smaller bowl, mix
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Add the bowl of dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix until smooth. If it's too dry, add a little soy milk as necessary. Mix in
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini or other summer squash
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Put into greased 8-inch round pan, and spread with spatula. Cook for 30-35 minutes, or until a tooth-pick comes out clean. Delightfus!



Wait until it's cool to cut it, too.

A Tribute to my Furry Bestie

Carly Butters Pooper Hebert: May 4th 1995-July 13th 2010. She loved the kitchen.

We love you!

Look at those yogas doing hippy.

Hello, hello!

Xtina and I have recently returned from a weekend of bliss...at the Blissfest! This year was the 30th anniversary of the event. Blissfest is just one of many lovely hippy jam fests that keep The Mitten swinging throughout the summer.



Although our initial arrival was NOT blissful (hippies aren't super-organized people, so getting through the line-up at the gates was a long wait. We saw the Thai-food-booth-guy get pulled over by the sheriff, too), we left blissed OUT. A wonderful weekend!



It's obvious that we here at Oops! love to enjoy Michigan products on our stove-tops, in our beer mugs, and our wine glasses. Well, we also like to jam to Michigan's home-grown tunes. Some of the local fair we enjoyed at the festival?


The Billy King Band [special plug for these cats ;)]
May Erlewine and Samuel Seth Bernard
Josh Davis (remember our love for him?)
My Dear Disco
Rachel Davis
And many many more...



These were performers X and I were already quite familiar with, but there were new artists that were a great pleasure to come across, and not all from Michigan alone. The most pleasant new discovery of the weekend? FISHTANK ENSEMBLE. Everyone should check these cats out. Their shows were a serious mind-fuck. We were left wanting much more, but they journeyed beyond the festival after one day. Incredibly energetic and outrageously talented individuals, and with fascinating travel tales to boot.

If you've never been to a hippy jam fest, we highly encourage you to attend one. Other notable parts of our vacation included: 9 men in skirts, naked-overalls-man, the drum kiva, children, shockingly excellent festival food, dancing next to Lady Gaga (or just an old woman dressed like Lady Gaga), music workshops, and an abundance of fascinating and friendly people. Want to join us some time? CHECK OUT HOLLER FEST! The Oops! Team will be there, and we'd love to meet you.

Junk Food Veganism, Part Two: Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Happy July dear friends!

You may remember my recent post on junk food veganism. I must report that I have since reformed my ways, thanks in part to all the delicious produce infiltrating the fertile fields of Michigan, and hence my kitchen. Before I start posting about that stuff though, I must include this last - although certainly not final - junk food recipe. My boss's seven-year-old proclaimed these cookies to be 'THE BEST!!' she'd ever had. I like this recipe cause it's easy, and features one of my favorite ways to make desserts super-classy without actually trying: a simple sprinkle of sea salt before baking. Onward!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, adapted from Heidi Swanson's recipe

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 cup peanut butter (be sure to use a natural kind if you want to brag that there's no refined sugars in these cookies)
1 cup maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup (or more!) of dark chocolate chips
a pinch or two of sea salt

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the flour, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Combine all the other ingredients except the chocolate chips in another bowl, and pour the wet mixture over the dry. Stir until everything is just combined. Pour in the chocolate chips and mix a little more. Drop spoonfuls of dough onto a cookie sheet and sprinkle each cookie with a little but of sea salt. Bake for 10 or 11 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool.

Purslane!

It has been an industrious afternoon. Got some deep cleaning done in the 'ol bathroom and kitchen. Good times.

Light, short work-day at the climbing gym, folks, so I had a lot of time to play around in the kitchen this afternoon...And a big new box of CSA goodies, too! Delicious things happened, and they happened with gusto.

First, let's talk SCAPES. Wonderful, delightful garlic scapes. A tastydactyl that I was introduced to last year working in Vermont. What a treat! Today, I took the advice from my Frog Holler friends (pressed to me via my CSA newsletter) to make garlic scape pesto. Here's the recipe, folks! It's delightfus!



Garlic Scape Pesto

9 garlic scapes, chopped up
1/3 cup walnuts
1/2 cup safflower oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Put the scapes and walnuts into a food processor and process until smooth and blended. While processing, add in a little oil at a time until entirely incorporated. Stir in salt and pepper!

Easy peasy lemon squeezy. I have also taken their advice to put some of the pesto into an ice cube tray to freeze for future individual servings of pesto when the season is over. Hurray!

I did get to use the pesto immediately, as well. I made a WONDERFUL sandwich. This sandwich was made wonderful by another special surprise in this week's CSA box.

FROG HOLLER, THANK YOU. THANK YOU FOR



PURSLANE.



This marvelous little green took my sandwich to the next level. I did nothing to it (although there are plenty of options). I just put it on my sandwich, straight up. Friends, purslane is new to me, and I am already SOLD.

What else was on this sandwich? Well, I toasted a piece of bread, spread it with Earth Balance, Veganaise, and my scape pesto. On top of this went the purslane. Next, two pieces of baked tofu, which I had pressed and soaked in a marinade composed of safflower oil, maple syrup, tamari, and liquid smoke (I like to keep a bag of this mixture on-hand in my fridge whenever I want a tofu sandwich). Finally, I buried the whole thing in Frog Holler lettuce. Bliss.



BUT I'M NOT DONE YET, KIDS.

I had some bananas on their way out. Naturally, I made banana muffins.

Banana Nut Muffins

2 medium ripe bananas
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup safflower oil
1/2 cup vanilla soy milk
1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda (I don't know if this is actually necessary, I put it in mindlessly)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
A handful or so of chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350. Mash the bananas in a medium bowl, and mix with the sugar, oil, and soy milk. In a separate, smaller bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and stir until totally incorporated. Finally, throw in the walnuts! Prepare a muffin pan, and start filling it up. For me, this made exactly enough batter for 12 muffins. Bake for approximately 25 minutes. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes before you go letting them cool on a rack.



Enjoy, kids! I sure did. Now, off for some night riding in town. Use lights. Wear helmets.