An award!? For me?

You can't even imagine my surprise and joy when I read a comment from

 The Vegan Tummy who announced, that I have been chosen for an award, called the 'Liebster Award'! 

Thank you so much!!! xo I truly feel honored!!!

"Liebster" is German and means 'dearest' or 'beloved' but it can also mean 'favorite'. =)

The idea behind this award is to bring attention to blogs with fewer than 200 followers and show some support.

The rules of winning this award are as follows:

1. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.

2. Reveal 5 of your top picks and let them know by leaving a comment on their blog.

3. Post the award on your blog.

4. Enjoy the love and support of some wonderful people on the www!

Again a big 'Thank you' to The Vegan Tummy ! Please make sure to visit her great blog! You won't regret it! :)

~*~*~

And now to my 5 picks:

Plenty Sweet Enough

Carrot Top Vegan

Of the Kitten Kind

Vegan Homemade

 A Vegan Fox

These are all wonderful blogs, check them out for yourself! =)

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More pumpkin, please!

After having 'scored' 5 cans (those were the last ones and I admit, I had the slight panic we might never get any again for this year, so I had to be a 'hamster' and get them all! *lol*) of canned pumpkin yesterday at the shop on base, I had to do something with pumpkin, 

naturally! ;-)

And since I still had the big sweet tooth, cookies came to mind!

Being a big fan of Isa's work (I think, we all know whom I'm talking about! For those, who are not familiar with her, I mean Isa Chandra Moskowitz, author of many vegan amazing cookbooks) I had to try her recipe posted on PPK

for Pumpkin Oatmeal Cookies!

http://www.theppk.com/2008/10/pumpkin-oatmeal-cookies/

The result: They taste amazing!!!

Thank you, Isa, again for such an awesome recipe!!! =)

~*~*~


And though it's not cooking related, this is how Mt. Etna looked like yesterday while I was baking the cookies and had a look out of our window. (Well, actually I have to get out of the house and step onto the sidewalk, but still..)
It looked cooler in real life.. the dark smoke colliding with the white clouds.

Vegan Cheesecake

Alright guys and girls,  who ever might be reading my blog, thanks for your patience after yesterday's post with my announcement of making a vegan cheesecake!

I'm happy to present you the results...

Hubby's comment was "It has potential" *lol* while the biggest shocker for me was that not only my daughter liking it (she loves food in general most of the time) but my son who is the pickiest of picky eaters!!! He asked for a second piece later in the day!!! =)

Ok, without further ado, here's the recipe:

(thanks go to http://tofu-n-sproutz.blogspot.com/ )

~* Vegan Cheesecake *~

Ingredients:

*Graham cracker ready-made 9" pie crust or make your own

*1 1/2 boxes of packed (Mori-Nu) firm silken tofu

*1/2 c soy milk [I only had almond milk]

*1/2 c sugar (vegan, obviously)

*1 Tbsp vanilla extract

*2 Tbsp lemon juice

*1 tsp lemon zest (I had none but should have!)

*2 Tbsp flour

*1/4 c maple syrup (I only had table syrup *blush*)

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C)

2) In a blender combine all ingredients 

Blend until smooth and pour into pie crust

3) Bake for ~30 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, 

refrigerate until chilled.

! Some notes of advice ! 

I only had 1 pck of firm silken tofu and the other one was soft. It did work so-so ok, but I'm sure with both packs being the firm ones, it'd have been a little less runny!

I'm not sure if the use of soy or any other plant milk makes a difference, but I'm sure using table syrup instead of the 'real deal' does!

I also only used 1 Tbsp of lemon juice and had no zest.. but I think a bit more lemon juice + zest would have improved the flavor!

I added some canned cherries just to 'spice up' the picture a bit..otherwise it's not my 'cup of tea', personally.

Being a cheesecake lover of both, the German as well as of the American version, I'm pretty happy with the outcome of my 1st try! ;-)

Bon Appetit!