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Fluffy Vegan Pumpkin Biscuits and Recordings
October 10th, 2011
We had an abnormal warm but beautiful weekend. How about that for fall? A high of 85 yesterday but I still embraced it.
So just to let you know, I am still here and very much pregnant still. 12 more days folks unless God decides to bring our little joy before. Did I mention that my husband would rather she be late by 2 days? Our 1st concert of the season with the Holland Chorale is on the due date so he would VERY much like for me to still sing in his concert. Well, in addition to that, if I give birth on the due date he has a substitute conductor to keep the show going but since he has been working hard on this programming I know that all things will work the way God wants them.
I know it has been a while since I have updated you on my singing but it HAS been on the back burner due to this pregnancy. I had one voice lesson and have another planned for the day before my due date. Why not keep life going right? I will be working on a duet from the opera Lakmé and I also will be learning the aria from Madama Butterfly called ‘Un bel di.” I am really excited! Singing hymns at church has sufficed for the meantime but I know I cannot get behind especially since I have the soprano part to learn for Mozart’s Requiem for the spring.
I DID forget however to share the recordings that I finally received from a recital I sang in May. I had mentioned I learned a folk song cycle by Canteloube called Chants D’Auvergne which are in a French dialect called Occitan. They were really fun to sing and I hope to perform them again in the future. Enjoy listening to them.
This morning I finally made something worth posting especially since I have been pinning multiple recipes in Pinterest focusing on pumpkin. Anyone else doing the same??
I have had my eye on pumpkin biscuits and I decided that this morning was the perfect morning for them. They are slightly sweet and delicious with something savory. It has the perfect amount of spices and they are probably the fluffiest biscuits I have ever made. I veganized the original recipe and used whole wheat white flour instead of all-purpose flour. I thought they were great as did Ryan.
You still have time to make them this morning or if not, make them tomorrow morning or even for Thanksgiving. YUM!
Fluffy Vegan Pumpkin Biscuits
1 Tablespoon baking powder
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
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First Paid Freelance Writing Gig
October 7th, 2011Yeah I am sure you heard or read about it if you are on my Facebook or Twitter but I cannot help being more excited about being in print. I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to write for Greater Lansing Woman Magazine that is a part of the Lansing State Journal.
I know I mentioned that I writing this article back 2 months ago, but between writing, editing and taking pictures the article finally came out for the October issue.
My task? I was to visit my 5 favorite area restaurants and see what vegan choices each restaurant provided for the vegan eater. I really had a great time picking and choosing my favorite dishes along with taking photos. I love the layout for each picture in the article as well!
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| Hold the Meat is my article. Check out my name in the contributing writer section! |
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Apple and Rainier Cherry Crisp
October 6th, 2011
My sister and brother-in-law are gone. A whole week went by and I have to say I really enjoyed having them stay with us. It has been a year since I have really been able to spend time with my sister and I really felt that when she left yesterday. I thank God for the gift of family and for them being able to be here with me before the baby arrives. It sure did take a lot of my mind because otherwise I would be focusing on the time I have left before baby girl arrives. Well, I am back to that it seems.
I drove close to an hour and a half yesterday to drop my family in Detroit and decided that since I was on my own that I could take advantage of finally driving through Dearborn. This city is the 8th largest city in Michigan and was the home of Henry Ford and the headquarters of the Ford Motor Company. Back in July, we visited Detroit, but we were really unimpressed seeing how so much has changed with the economy. I was surprised to say that I really enjoyed seeing the outskirts of Dearborn.
Something else I heard about Dearborn is that the city boasted a huge Arab-American population who mostly immigrated n the early 20th centry to work in the auto industry. Mostly are Lebanese Christian and of recent more immigrants have arrived who are Muslim.
Why all this history? Well I love their food and I knew and heard that there are great markets and restaurants so I decided to drive around and check out bakeries and markets in order to stock up on tahini, pita bread and other essentials. Boy did I score!
I found Papaya Food Market and boy did I find beautiful produce! Heads of romaine so heavy I knew it was going to last us. They limited their customers to 4 heads of lettuce too! Colored peppers were 5 for a $1 and figs, figs were wonderful! 2 pints of green and purple figs for 2 bucks. I am telling you, I was so happy to run into this place. I promptly told Ryan were having Lebanese food the whole week. LOL
So I returned home and besides all the catch-up laundry I needed to do I decided to make an apple crisp. Remember I shared it with you the other day? It was so good and I had so many apples I decided to have the house smell spiced up.
I have been apples plain as they are naturally sweet but there is nothing like a warm apple crisp with melted ice cream. Yes, I know, right??
This can make with any sugars you want. I have made it twice with agave nectar and vegan sugar and then another batch with brown sugar and agave nectar. They both turned out just as delicious! The oatmeal on top comes out to be the PERFECT crispy topping! Believe me. Make this for your family and it will be a keeper, I tell you.
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18 days and counting….plus family!
October 4th, 2011
I have been busy the last week with my sister and brother-in-law in town and enjoying the GORGEOUS weather we have been having. Can you tell how beautiful fall is from my picture?
It has been great having my sister because I forget that we love to laugh together and all I need now towards the end of this pregnancy is laughter, you know? She has been helping me clean around the house, washing dishes and sometimes helping me put my shoes on!
This past weekend we enjoyed going to St. Johns. We have made it an annual affair to go to Uncle John’s Cider Mill in order to pick our own pumpkins from their patch, to sample goodies, to drink lots of apple cider and to eat their delicious cake donuts. Cake donuts coming in 4 flavors! Yes, I have been holding out my donut craving for this moment out with family and there is nothing like enjoying it in crisp sunny weather.
We sampled pumpkin, apple cider, buttermilk, and cinnamon sugar donuts with cold and warm apple cider. Can we talk about a little tummy ache afterwards? Oh but it was worth it!
The place also has a wine tasting and lots of fruit trees on the grounds. This company makes their own fruit wines and hard apple cider. I was only able to sniff everyone’s sample and did not make such a deal about how I was the only one left out NOT drinking. My time will come!
The mill also sells a variety of apples from Honeycrisp, Empire, Golden Ginger to McIntosh and Fuji apples. We walked through the orchards and we were really overwhelmed that there were sooooo many apples rotting on the ground. The mill sold the apples for an arm and a leg and here there were spoiling on the ground. Oh if we could only pick our own for FREE!
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| My sister and her husband. See my shadow? 😀 |
We later meandered to the pumpkin patch picking up two large pumpkins and several candy pumpkins. It was the PERFECT day to be outdoors especially enjoying it with family. We took advantage of a nap as we returned home and NOT on the road!
So far I have not made anything pumpkin yet, but I HAVE made an apple crisp which I will be sharing with you soon! Enjoy the weather and the week!
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Crunchy Rainbow Slaw
September 28th, 2011
My sister arrives today from Houston. I am so excited to have her for a whole week! Can you tell???? I have shared with friends that we will be having visitors over the next few weeks before the baby arrives and people are just surprised, but I think it is a perfect time. You know why? It will keep me less occupied and thinking of the baby’s arrival. I am looking forward to entertaining, sitting and laughing with my younger sister. Her husband then arrives a few days later.
Yesterday i took advantage of getting a hair trim. My hair has been getting tangled and Ryan has even noticed knots in my hair. Well, that is what happens when it is time for a haircut! I am looking forward to a different style, perhaps some highlights after the baby is born though.
I was home alone yesterday and usually I do not feel like cooking for myself, sometimes, but last night I knew I had to follow through with a quick recipe I have been wanting to make. It was a combination of Angela’s Detox Salad:
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| Detox Salad by Oh She Glows |
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| Extra Crunchy Broccoli Salad by Vanilla Sugar |
I had a 12-ounce bag of Rainbow Slaw that I had picked and wanted to use, which consisted of shredded broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and red cabbage. I made it my dinner folks. It was SO filling and delicious. I added ginger-agave cashews, garlic sesame sticks, raisins, and the dressing and BOOM! An explosion of flavors.
