Could It Be … SEITAN?

It was early in the morning on a Tuesday.  The bananas weren’t feeling well.  They were sick and tired of hanging out on the kitchen counter, and they weren’t getting any younger.  Quite frankly, they were lookin’ bad.  The bleary eyed stranger who wandered into the kitchen on that fateful morning took one glance at the bananas.  She had once known them as green, naive, unspoiled by the harsh reality of life outside the grocer store.  Now, well past the prime of their lives, the bananas called out for mercy.

What?

So I have about two more months in this apartment before I roll out and let my lease cruise - peacing out to the east coast that big New York place.  I’m trying to use up everything I have in my cupboard that I can’t easily donate to a shelter.  Here come the muffins.

I made up the recipe and considering there’s no sugar or Earth Balance I wasn’t sure how they’d come out - therefore I titled them:

Ye of Little Faith Banana Kitchen Sink Muffins

2 bananas
1/4 C apple sauce
1/3 C unsweetened soy milk
1/4 C brown rice syrup
2 T maple syrup
1 t almond extract
1 C whole wheat flour
1/2 C white flour
1/2 t baking soda
handful of currants and raisins

I just really mashed up the wet ingredients and then mixed everything into the dry ingredients, poured them into a muffin tin, and called it a day.  Well, beside baking them for 20 minutes at 350 degrees.  I only made 8 because I didn’t trust them to rise very much.  The did actually rise beautifully, so it was a treat to have a real muffin top (without giving anyone the less preferred sort of muffin top - get it?  heaaallthyyy).

Also, how precious is this little guy?

The “Danish Braid”

Hooray!  While staying with some family friends I was able to finagle my way into the kitchen and complete this challenge!  We were at the beach for my mom’s best friend’s daughter’s wedding (that’s a mouthful) and stayed with the bride’s family in their beach house for a week of vacation.  It was so relaxing - I would sit on the back porch every morning with a cup of coffee and watch all kinds of wildlife take over the marsh.  Every now and then I’d also catch a dunking contest held in the pool basketball court:

Not the best picture (macbook photobooth) but you get the idea.  And check out that pedicure sunset!

I digress.  Back to business.

Much thanks to Kelly of Sass & Veracity and Ben of What’s Cookin’? for hosting this month’s challenge.  And a challenge it was!  Not to say that the process was painful, but it took me a good two days to get through the entire process.  When you read the recipe, you’ll see why:

Original Recipe from Sherry Yard’s “The Secrets of Baking”

(Please not that this recipe does not include my alterations - I’ll discuss those further on.)

DANISH DOUGH

Makes 2-1/2 pounds dough

Ingredients
For the dough (Detrempe)
1 ounce fresh yeast or 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 cup whole milk
1/3 cup sugar
Zest of 1 orange, finely grated
3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
2 large eggs, chilled
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
3-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt

For the butter block (Beurrage)
1/2 pound (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour

DOUGH
Combine yeast and milk in the bowl of a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and mix on low speed.  Slowly add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice.  Mix well.  Change to the dough hook and add the salt with the flour, 1 cup at a time, increasing speed to medium as the flour is incorporated.  Knead the dough for about 5 minutes, or until smooth.  You may need to add a little more flour if it is sticky.  Transfer dough to a lightly floured baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Without a standing mixer:  Combine yeast and milk in a bowl with a hand mixer on low speed or a whisk.  Add sugar, orange zest, cardamom, vanilla extract, vanilla seeds, eggs, and orange juice and mix well.  Sift flour and salt on your working surface and make a fountain.  Make sure that the “walls” of your fountain are thick and even.  Pour the liquid in the middle of the fountain.  With your fingertips, mix the liquid and the flour starting from the middle of the fountain, slowly working towards the edges.  When the ingredients have been incorporated start kneading the dough with the heel of your hands until it becomes smooth and easy to work with, around 5 to 7 minutes.  You might need to add more flour if the dough is sticky.

BUTTER BLOCK
1.    Combine butter and flour in the bowl of a mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and beat on medium speed for 1 minute.  Scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle and then beat for 1 minute more, or until smooth and lump free.  Set aside at room temperature.
2.    After the detrempe has chilled 30 minutes, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface.  Roll the dough into a rectangle approximately 18 x 13 inches and ¼ inch thick.  The dough may be sticky, so keep dusting it lightly with flour.  Spread the butter evenly over the center and right thirds of the dough.  Fold the left edge of the detrempe to the right, covering half of the butter.  Fold the right third of the rectangle over the center third.  The first turn has now been completed.  Mark the dough by poking it with your finger to keep track of your turns, or use a sticky and keep a tally.  Place the dough on a baking sheet, wrap it in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3.    Place the dough lengthwise on a floured work surface.  The open ends should be to your right and left.  Roll the dough into another approximately 13 x 18 inch, ¼-inch-thick rectangle.  Again, fold the left third of the rectangle over the center third and the right third over the center third.  No additional butter will be added as it is already in the dough. The second turn has now been completed.  Refrigerate the dough for 30 minutes.
4.    Roll out, turn, and refrigerate the dough two more times, for a total of four single turns.  Make sure you are keeping track of your turns.  Refrigerate the dough after the final turn for at least 5 hours or overnight.  The Danish dough is now ready to be used.  If you will not be using the dough within 24 hours, freeze it.  To do this, roll the dough out to about 1 inch in thickness, wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and freeze.  Defrost the dough slowly in the refrigerator for easiest handling.  Danish dough will keep in the freezer for up to 1 month.

APPLE FILLING
Makes enough for two braids

Ingredients
4 Fuji or other apples, peeled, cored, and cut into ¼-inch pieces
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Toss all ingredients except butter in a large bowl.  Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat until slightly nutty in color, about 6 - 8 minutes.  Then add the apple mixture and sauté until apples are softened and caramelized, 10 to 15 minutes.  If you’ve chosen Fujis, the apples will be caramelized, but have still retained their shape. Pour the cooked apples onto a baking sheet to cool completely before forming the braid.  (If making ahead, cool to room temperature, seal, and refrigerate.) They will cool faster when spread in a thin layer over the surface of the sheet.  After they have cooled, the filling can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.  Left over filling can be used as an ice cream topping, for muffins, cheesecake, or other pastries.

DANISH BRAID
Makes enough for 2 large braids

Ingredients
1 recipe Danish Dough (see below)
2 cups apple filling, jam, or preserves (see below)

For the egg wash:  1 large egg, plus 1 large egg yolk

1.    Line a baking sheet with a silicone mat or parchment paper.  On a lightly floured  surface, roll the Danish Dough into a 15 x 20-inch rectangle, ¼ inch thick.  If the dough seems elastic and shrinks back when rolled, let it rest for a few minutes, then roll again.  Place the dough on the baking sheet.
2.    Along one long side of the pastry make parallel, 5-inch-long cuts with a knife or rolling pastry wheel, each about 1 inch apart.  Repeat on the opposite side, making sure to line up the cuts with those you’ve already made.
3.    Spoon the filling you’ve chosen to fill your braid down the center of the rectangle.  Starting with the top and bottom “flaps”, fold the top flap down over the filling to cover.  Next, fold the bottom “flap” up to cover filling.  This helps keep the braid neat and helps to hold in the filling. Now begin folding the cut side strips of dough over the filling, alternating first left, then right, left, right, until finished.  Trim any excess dough and tuck in the ends.

Egg Wash
Whisk together the whole egg and yolk in a bowl and with a pastry brush, lightly coat the braid.

Proofing and Baking
1.    Spray cooking oil (Pam…) onto a piece of plastic wrap, and place over the braid.  Proof at room temperature or, if possible, in a controlled 90 degree F environment for about 2 hours, or until doubled in volume and light to the touch.
2.    Near the end of proofing, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Position a rack in the center of the oven.
3.    Bake for 10 minutes, then rotate the pan so that the side of the braid previously in the back of the oven is now in the front. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake about 15-20 minutes more, or until golden brown.  Cool and serve the braid either still warm from the oven or at room temperature.  The cooled braid can be wrapped airtight and stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or freeze for 1 month.

My Alterations

For the butter, I substituted Earth Balance vegan spread.  I considered using half margerine and half vegetable shortening to achieve flakiness, but I was too lazy awesome to buy shortening.  I really think it would have improved the texture since the danish was rather bread-y and dense.  For the whole milk I used soy creamer, but I think regular soy milk would have been just fine.  I wasn’t able to use cardamom or vanilla beans because at $15.00 a jar for each I may as well have handed my credit card over to the cashier and asked her to just keep it.  For the eggs I substituted corn starch.  Yeeeah not the most genius move, but I was on an island and the grocery store didn’t even have soy yogurt (which I would have LOVED).  I am curious what would have happened with a flax meal substitute too.  The process involved a lot of hanging around, waiting for things to chill and proof.  It was pretty exciting seeing how much the dough rose during the two hours of proofing - kind of like watching plants grow in hyperspeed.  Oh, and let’s discuss what a squidgy mess the beurrage turned out to be.  There were buttery guts all over the counter throughout my dough-baby’s various turns.  Beside the buttery gore, everything came together pretty painlessly.

For the filling, I used the normal apple recipe with an almond frangipane and. it. was. AMAZING.  I would have just ladled that stuff into my mouth all day without a care for filling anything had I no sense of responsibility.  I have half a sense of responsibility, therefore I only ate half the recipe.  Oops?  I also made a few croissants and pinwheel danishes with the leftover dough and filled some with raspberry jam, frangipane, and some with chocolate.  Nomnom.

My gracious hosts put up with me hoarding their kitchen utensils and banging pots and pans for two days and graciously devoured the danish when the kitchen returned to peace.  So the recipe had a great response!  I can’t wait to check out what my fellow vegan bloggers did with this recipe and how it turned out.

In the midst of a week break from travelling, I was graciously put up by my boyfriend’s parents in their New York apartment.  I was given free reign in the kitchen!  I ate gloriously!  One of my favorite things (that I actually managed to get pictures of) that I made was a raw fruit tart/pie.  I got the idea somewhere on the internet, but I essentially tossed a bunch of stuff together.  Hopefully I can remember how all this went down.

Raw Fruit Tart

Recipe

Ingredients

1 8 inch pie pan

2 C almonds

1 C chopped medjool dates

2 mangoes

1/4 C coconut flakes

About 2 C halved strawberries - enough to cover the top of the tart

Directions

• Blend the almonds and the dates together a handful at a time in a chopper - I used some sort of crazy Cuisinart chopping device I found lurking in a cabinet.
• Press almond/date mixture down into the pie pan, making sure to cover the sides of the pan.
• Peel, chop, and blend mangoes until they have an even consistency.
• Stir coconut flakes into mango.
• Scoop mango mixture into your pie crust, spreading it out evenly with a spatula.
• Place sliced strawberries (or any fruit of your choosing) decoratively over the tart.
• Chill the tart in a refrigerator for at least an hour before serving. Best served chillllled out.

After much struggle with grinding almonds and dates together - this was the end result.  Hooray!  It was delicious, and I didn’t have to feel bad about eating it for breakfast the next day.  Yessss.  I also managed to make an AMAZING pasta-less lasagna (casserole?) with eggplant, spinach, and mushrooms.  I made the dish twice and didn’t get a good photo of it either time - thanks night time photography.  However, check out this dip I made for some crusty olive bread:

That’s some roasted garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, olive oil, and pepper - I let it marinate in its own sauciness before serving it and it was gooood.

I should probably mention that I have no kitchen again :-(  Sorry to all the Daring Bakers hoping to see a beautiful vegan opera cake.  Please check out these blogs:

Vegan Visitor

Que Jimenez

Madcape Cupcake

Karmic Living

How to Feed a Vegan

Healthy Vegan Kitchen

Bittersweet

Insane props and applause all around for taking on such an intense challenge!!!

It’s a post!  With photos!  Be still my beeting heart!

(Went there.)

I am currently apartment hunting in New York, and last week I decided Brooklyn deserved a little attention.  Specifically, I wanted to check out the Cobble Hill area.  I had the pleasure of visiting some friends of friends who live in an incredible old brownstone there and they pretty much sold me on the neighborhood as soon as they opened the door.  It’s slightly less pricey than my favorite hood, the West Villy, and it’s disarmingly quieter.  After getting used to the sound of the city, it took me a while to adjust to the calm on the other side of the river.  ANYWAY, this blog is about food.

I decided to check out Jill’s after yelping several options.  At first glance, the place reminded me of M Cafe de Chaya in Los Angeles - aka Mecca.  It was clean, bright, modern - all the nice stuff that suckers like me are into.  I walked up to the counter and was floored by the beautiful display of salads and desserts in their glass case.  I decided to order a two side dish of beets and cucumber spaghetti and a slice of the ridiculously good looking (raw!!) chocolate cake.  The first problem arose when I ordered - the woman behind the counter was RUDE.  I get the stereotype of New Yorkers - I get it and I appreciate it.  I like it when people are upfront and honest, but seriously.  If you’re going to be in the service industry (especially in a rather unique specialty restaurant), maybe you should get rid of the perma-tude.  Speaking of attitude, let me complain some more.  I ordered what seemed to me like a pretty small amount of food and when the total came out to $30, I thought about saying ‘forget it’ and leaving.  Since I’m a pushover and severely passive aggressive (blogrevenge), I payed and perched myself on one the uncomfortably small stools the restaurant offers.

All that said, the beets were okay and the cucumber spaghetti was …. ok.  The portions were about the size of my fist - which is very small.  I still didn’t finish any of it.  But the raw chocolate cake.  Oh.

Oh.

Albeit, not worth ten dollars but Oh.

The different colored layers had different textures - the light was more like a mousse and the dark was more brownie like.  The cacao nibs on top added a nice crunch and bitterness aaaaggghsogood.  I walked through the pouring rain, eating it with my hands, and probably looking like a complete whackadoo cracked out on raw chocolate goodness.  I don’t know what the exact ingredients were - something about figs and dates and nuts blah blah blah the cake took over my listening skills when the counter lady read off the ingredient list in a voice that said, “I hate my life.”  I think she has never tasted this cake.

Overall, I understand that raw food will always be a little bit pricier because of the ingredients and freshness but if you’re going to rob me blind, at least smile about it.

Sorry to all for the abrupt halt in my blogging - this job and this city take up a lot more time than I expected! I haven’t had my camera on me to take pictures of meals at restaurants out of vanity’s sake. I feel like lugging around my huge camera will be quickly followed by large maps, shorts with socks and sneakers, and a nice hot pink fanny pack. I have, however, been making my rounds on the vegan spectrum of New York City. I’ve been to Sacred Chow, Gobo, and Caravan of Dreams. Also, the Whole Foods near me has a (really really exciting) shelf of vegan desserts that change every day. Please behold my favorite breakfast since I’ve been in the city - Sweet & Sara Peanut Butter Smore.

Nothing like some real power fuel for a run through Central Park.  It was wonderful!!  As a kid, I was really gross and would make s’mores in the microwave.  That’s right.  So I clearly have some kind of addiction to the chocolate, marshmallow, graham cracker combination.  Add peanut butter into the mix and you have me, face down on the floor, in a foodjoy coma.  Sweet & Sara slammed me down on first bite.  The chocolate coating was thick and had a great bite to it.  The graham cracker was pretty crumbly, but the gooey marshmallow held on to all the crumbs.  If anything, I would ask for more (moremoremore!) peanut butter, but the thin layer inside added a decadence to the whole shebang.  Sure, it was a pricey endeavor (almost 5 dolla bills y’all), but it was worth every swoon bite.

Yay yay yay, I finally get to post my Daring Bakers April Challenge!  Drop the cupcake confetti! Strike up the octogenarian marching band! Introducing:

Vegan Cheesecake Pops

Original Recipe from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O’Connor

Makes 30 – 40 Pops

5 8-oz. packages cream cheese at room temperature

2 cups sugar

¼ cup all-purpose flour

¼ teaspoon salt

5 large eggs

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

¼ cup heavy cream

Boiling water as needed

Thirty to forty 8-inch lollipop sticks

1 pound chocolate, finely chopped – you can use all one kind or half and half of dark, milk, or white (Alternately, you can use 1 pound of flavored coatings, also known as summer coating, confectionary coating or wafer chocolate – candy supply stores carry colors, as well as the three kinds of chocolate.)

2 tablespoons vegetable shortening

(Note: White chocolate is harder to use this way, but not impossible)

Assorted decorations such as chopped nuts, colored jimmies, crushed peppermints, mini chocolate chips, sanding sugars, dragees) - Optional

Position oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Set some water to boil.

In a large bowl, beat together the cream cheese, sugar, flour, and salt until smooth. If using a mixer, mix on low speed. Add the whole eggs and the egg yolks, one at a time, beating well (but still at low speed) after each addition. Beat in the vanilla and cream.

Grease a 10-inch cake pan (not a springform pan), and pour the batter into the cake pan. Place the pan in a larger roasting pan. Fill the roasting pan with the boiling water until it reaches halfway up the sides of the cake pan. Bake until the cheesecake is firm and slightly golden on top, 35 to 45 minutes.

Remove the cheesecake from the water bath and cool to room temperature. Cover the cheesecake with plastic wrap and refrigerate until very cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight.

When the cheesecake is cold and very firm, scoop the cheesecake into 2-ounce balls and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Carefully insert a lollipop stick into each cheesecake ball. Freeze the cheesecake pops, uncovered, until very hard, at least 1 – 2 hours.

When the cheesecake pops are frozen and ready for dipping, prepare the chocolate. In the top of a double boiler, set over simmering water, or in a heatproof bowl set over a pot of simmering water, heat half the chocolate and half the shortening, stirring often, until chocolate is melted and chocolate and shortening are combined. Stir until completely smooth. Do not heat the chocolate too much or your chocolate will lose it’s shine after it has dried. Save the rest of the chocolate and shortening for later dipping, or use another type of chocolate for variety.

Alternately, you can microwave the same amount of chocolate coating pieces on high at 30 second intervals, stirring until smooth.

Quickly dip a frozen cheesecake pop in the melted chocolate, swirling quickly to coat it completely. Shake off any excess into the melted chocolate. If you like, you can now roll the pops quickly in optional decorations. You can also drizzle them with a contrasting color of melted chocolate (dark chocolate drizzled over milk chocolate or white chocolate over dark chocolate, etc.) Place the pop on a clean parchment paper-lined baking sheet to set. Repeat with remaining pops, melting more chocolate and shortening (or confectionary chocolate pieces) as needed.

Refrigerate the pops for up to 24 hours, until ready to serve.

My Adjustments

First of all, I halved everything because as many wonderful friends that I have who humor my baking - I was afraid of having a freezer full of cheesecake pops haunting me day and night; tempting me with their charm as cheesecake pops are apt to do. Secondly, I replaced the (2.5) eggs with (3/4 C) firm silken tofu. For the heavy cream, I used Silk soy creamer combined with 3 T cornstarch - just in cake anything decided to get soggy. I shaped the bites into squares at first - no easy feat. Since I used a 9 inch cake pane, I decided to just slice the chilled cheesecake into squares after trying to shape the first four. I used semi-sweet vegan chocolate to dip and decided to forgo the use of shortening. Finally, I made a little mixture of confectioners sugar and water for a white decorative drizzle.

The Results

WOW. These were SO good. And precious. And POPULAR! In a coincidental turn of fate, my friend Dawn celebrated her birthday a few weekends ago and asked me to make - what else - cake lollipops for her Murder Mystery dinner. I couldn’t believe it when she asked me to turn on Martha Stewart because she was making lollipops out of cake. I was like, Martha Who? So already on top of it.

I really didn’t have much of a hard time with these at all. I was scared, since it was my first time making cheesecake AND my first Daring Bakers challenge. It probably went so well because I was extremely cautious and followed all the instructions carefully. Which is what I normally don’t do. Ever. Because I believe in anarchy and chaos and general rule breaking.

I walked these kids to Dawn’s party in an insulated case because I didn’t know how they’d hold up to the heat as I walked up the street (yay for having wonderful neighbors!). The party-goers, all dressed up as literary characters, gave these things a loving reception. Sure, people were getting murdered left and right, but that didn’t stop anyone from enjoying lollipops. Because that’s what life is really all about: Overcoming the bad stuff and eating good stuff.

The five most frightening women in New York

As of yesterday at 6:30 pm, I am in New York. I found out Wednesday afternoon that I had to fly out immediately and since I got here it has been a whirlwind of workworkwork. It’s great! I am so exhausted! I can’t feel my face! I haven’t slept in 48 hours because my first flight Wednesday night got cancelled after I sat in the airport (and on the plane) for 6 hours. I took another flight out at 10 AM Thursday, but jet lag and excitement have prevented me from the zzzz’s. In any case - I’m living out of a hotel and a suitcase for a month.

All I gots is a microwave. Mmm. Want to see what I can nuke? Didn’t think so. So for the month of May, this here blog will officially be all about reviewing restaurants in the city. I haven’t been able to eat out yet but damn did I have a good soy latte from Cafe Grumpy! No pictures yet - I’ve been working non-stop for the past 24 hours. Finally, I’m about to fall asleep and drown soak in a hot lavender filled bathtub. Tomorrow morning holds a run to Whole Foods and whoooo knows what else. Mystery! Intrigue!

Friday morning I woke up with a need for something involving chocolate and bananas - and I had 2 hours to get to a meeting on time. It was one of those weeks. Yeah. So, my mission was clear: The World’s Fastest Banana Bread. I ‘used’ the Lower Fat Banana Bread recipe from Veganomicon, but it would be a shame to credit this loaf to Isa and Terry because I didn’t have any time for measurements. Only time for eatin’. So this bread didn’t turn out quite how I’d hoped - a little uncooked in the middle and brown on the bottom. I think I had a manic attack of the stirring-arm so the bread was also a bit gummy due to overmixing. Too much apple sauce too. But you know what? Whatever. Whatever! Chocolate chip banana bread is what I wanted and it’s what I gots. It’s actually pretty great after hanging out in the freezer and getting toasty in the toasty toaster oven. Besides, I got to prove to myself yet again that my measurement-eyeballing skills are not quite honed. And that, my friends, is a good lesson to learn.

Wow! Arlo Guthrie wrote a song about me! Amazing that he would have the foresight in ‘65 to know how rad my vegan cooking would be in 2008. A true visionary, that guy.

Oh, you didn’t know? Hmm.

So I recently found myself engrossed in Alice Waters and Chez Panisse, a bio of Alice and the restaurant by Thomas McNamee. I haven’t ventured to the restaurant myself, but I love how adamant she is about having fresh, local ingredients. I’d take a just-picked Californian apple over the Chilean imports Trader Joes is messing around with any day. I hit up the Hollywood Farmers Market every Sunday, but last week I wanted to have people over to celebrate local California produce and share in some unadorned, unfancy, unpretentious, un-not-delicious vegan recipes.

The most unpretentious part of the meal - thanks to Dawn and Jesse.

The meal started out with a salad of lettuce, beets, and oranges. I sprinkled cumin over the beets because there’s something I really like about that combination. I tried a dish a few months ago in Ojai that was basically a big pile of cumin-y beets and I’ve just been mainlining the stuff ever since. The salad was served with and olive oil and vinegar dressing.

For the main dish, I made the Chickpea Cutlets from VCON, which I will now and forever refer to as “Ole Faithful.”

Every time I make these they are gobbled up. I served them with a Garlic Faux Aioli. Speaking of that, get pumped for a:

Recipe!

Ingredients

1 package Silken tofu - Mori Nu style

3 cloves of garlic

2 T mustard

1 T apple cider vinegar

Directions

• Blend it all together in a blender and then let it chill out in the fridge. Put it on your food. Cooking is harrrd.

‘Tis the season for some beautiful asparagus, so I roasted it all up with some olive oil, salt, and pepper, and let it bask in its own heavenly glow.

CHECK OUT how pretty these potatoes are. Seriously. I am in love with purple potatoes. I also roasted these with rosemary, salt, and olive oil. I don’t have any post-roast pictures because it was dark outside by the time everyone arrived and my camera’s flash HATES food. Hates it.

And for dessert?

This was the easiest and most rewarding dinner I’ve made in a while. Everyone gobbled it up happily and hung around my living room playing fictionary into the wee hours of the night. My favorite kind of night: great friends, great food, and extra fancy pink wines.