Snickerdoodles

Level of Difficulty: just measuring
Pots/Pans Used: two

Ingredients

2 cups flour
2 TBL baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 TBL molasses
1 TBL vanilla extract
1/4 cup water

coating:
sugar & cinnamon

Very rarely do I get the urge to bake. Although I love desserts (specifically cheesecake), I tend to have more savory cravings. But for some reason, I couldn't help but make cookies last night. So here they are... Just a simple recipe that will satisfy your sweet tooth. And yes, they are even Oliver approved.



Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray baking sheet with non-stick spray. Mix together dry ingredients in a large bowl. Mix together wet ingredients in separate bowl and then add the wet ingredients into the dry. After you've mixed it up well, you can add some more water if it seems dry (I added about 1/4 cup more, but I recommend adding it gradually to be safe). In a small bowl, combine extra sugar and cinnamon together. Form dough into small 1 inch balls and them roll them in the sugar mixture. Place on baking sheet and press down with fingers. Bake for 10-15 minutes, then up heat to 450 and them bake a couple minutes until the tops brown a bit. Take them out to cool and them serve with a cup of hot tea!

Read more...

Vegan in Vegas!!! 2.0

For those of you that read last years Vegas post, you will be pleased to see that everywhere I went this trip was completely different than the last. That's right... brand new west coast food porn to feast your eyes on! Like my last trip, I was lucky enough to be invited to stay at the Bellagio while my mom was there on a business trip. I'll start out with my favorite... room service.

I will say last year was much easier in coordinating with the room service chef. This year took a little more persistence. While technically the only thing vegan on the breakfast menu is fruit and oatmeal, you can call and speak to the chef to see if he can whip up something a little more exciting.

Again, I couldn't resist their sugar-glazed ruby red grapefruit...

(and I can't totally knock the oatmeal, because it's pretty good with some brown sugar and berries)

The chef sent up this tofu and veggies concoction one morning with a fruit plate. Really dealicious!

There were many non-food related highlights of the trip that I also wanted to share. Like seeing the Grand Canyon for the first time!!! We even went on the Sky Walk! And it was completely terrifying!

One of the less expensive places I ate was at the Bellagio Cafe. I had the grilled Portobello burger, minus the cheese, plus avocado. The fries were awesome.

Then we tried cocktails at the Bellagio's new bar and lounge, Lily. I had their signature drink, "The Lily", which had lime juice, blood orange juice and ground cloves. The flower was even edible (though probably not vegan)!

I tried some take-out from Noodles in the hotel (if you haven't noticed, I didn't really leave the hotel).

Agedashi Tofu, Hot and Sour Cold Cucumber Salad (YUM!), Kake Soba Soup, and Spring Rolls....

I was in a bind one day and needed to get something last minute when I discovered this vegan Sesame Noodle bistro box from Starbucks. Did you guys already know about this? It's a complete little vegan meal. It comes with cold sesame noodles, tofu cubes, cucumber and carrot salad, sesame coated nuts, and even a dark chocolate square for dessert. And it honestly wasn't bad at all

One place you have to check out if you go to Vegas is The Neon Boneyard Park. It's a lot full of donated signs from Las Vegas. They do a tour and give you a little history about the signs. It was really cool and great for taking pictures.

The best meal I had in Vegas was at Michael Mina in the Bellagio. All you do is tell your server that you're vegan and the chef will prepare something especially for you.

I had a lightly dressed spring salad with apple slices to start

My entree was awesome. I'm not sure exactly what it was so I'll try and guess... fried tofu with what I think was fried ginger on top. It was served with pickled cucumbers, crispy baby bok choy, bamboo rice (the flavors in the rice were incredible and I'm still not sure how to describe it), tempura mushrooms, and some mystery vegetable I never figured out. This seriously tasted like what I imagine a top chef meal would taste like. At first I was surprised it didn't come with some sort of sauce, but everything tasted so good that I didn't even care.

For dessert they sent a trio of sorbets... Coconut Lime, Cranberry, and Passion Fruit

And there you have it! It was fun but exhausting...

Read more...