Here we go…

Hello!  Welcome to my blog!  This blog was created in June 2008 as a way for me to chronicle my baking projects.  I am a vegan baker.  I have been vegetarian for many, many years, but only recently became vegan.  Prior to becoming a vegan, I had baked many vegan items and I enjoy vegan baking much more than traditional baking (how I hated buying all those eggs and wasting all that milk (we have always used soy at our house, so any leftover cow’s milk just went to waste (shame )).  I am pretty good at “doctoring” recipes, but I am not (yet) a recipe developer (it is a goal of mine, but I need a lot more practice!).  To get this blog started, I’m going to post pictures of two recipes I made recently.  The first is Isa Chandra Moskowitz’s Graham Crackers.

The preparation of this recipe was simple and the dough was incredibly easy to roll out.  I was happy with the flavor (I might try to add something (more cinnamon? more molasses?) next time to try to deepen the flavor, but what I was not happy with was the texture.  They were not at all cracker-like and I will certainly have to bake them longer next time (I may try again this week).  I want to perfect this recipe for my daughter (currently 15 months old) so that she can have homemade, healthy snacks.

The second recipe I made is the Strawberry Love Muffins recipe from My Sweet Vegan.  I am thrilled by the out come of this recipe.  Take a look at these gorgeous muffins:

I cut down the sugar by half and used fresh strawberries (maybe a cup and a half) instead of frozen because I had the most perfect small strawberries (a Clintonville Farmer’s Market purchase) that I needed to use.  I also made these for my daughter because I need quick, healthy foods to give her for breakfast in the morning (she’s not so adept yet at using her utensils, but I cannot wait until she can sit down and eat a bowl of cereal!).  She can sometimes be picky in the morning and usually will only eat a banana or some other fruit, but she has eaten a whole muffin (they are pretty small) two mornings in a row.  I get tremendous pleasure from seeing her eat – and like! – the food I make.  I’m thinking about making this recipe this weekend for my husband’s thirtieth birthday, but will prepare it as a layer cake (I might have to triple or even quadruple the recipe).

I’m excited to start this blog and hope that I can remember to take pictures of all my baked goods!  I’m especially excited because I am a member of the Daring Bakers and my first challenge was this month’s challenge.  I’ve finished the challenge and was THRILLED by the end result.  The challenge recipe is top-secret for now, but I get to post about it this Sunday!