Vegan Date Bread

Old growth forest interrupted by creeks and waterfalls. Lush ferns in the undergrowth, the sighting of a some vividly colored snakes and spectacular views of the Columbia river. And just ninety minutes from the suburbs. I do feel lucky to live in Portland. The hike to Angel's  Rest in the Columbia Gorge is perfect for families with young kids. The terrain is interesting and you can make the hike short (2.3 miles each way) or as long as you like by combining it with Horse Tail falls and Wahkeena falls to form a loop.  The hike is mainly in the shade except for a couple of patches and the ledge at Angels Point is perfect for lunch break. It is at a high point and offers vast view of the Columbia River. 

Food for the soul satisfied- this date bread satisfied food for the body. Studded with plumped dates, it is perfectly moist and not too sweet a. Perfect for snacking or toasted  with a dab of vegan butter.

Vegan Date Bread (slightly adapted from Ann Arbor Vegan Kitchen)

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup applesauce ( 4ounces)

2 tbsp Earth balance

1 tsp vanilla

3/4 cup brown sugar

2 cups chopped dates

1 cup very warm soy or almond milk

Preheat oven to  350 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of a loaf pan.

• Heat the milk until it is hot and pour it over the chopped dates and allow to soak for 15- 20 minutes.
• Mix the flour, baking powder and baking soda together.
•  In a separate bowl, whisk the sugar, Earth balance, and applesauce together until it becomes creamy. Add the vanilla and whisk once more.
• Pour the liquid ingredients and the dates along with the milk into the dry ingredients and fold in with a spatula. 

Pour the batter into the greased loaf pan,and bake @ 350 for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.
Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges and invert the bread onto a cooling rack. Cool completely and then cut into slices.
Keep well wrapped at room temperature for 3 days. 

I accidentally made focaccia

I hope you have all had a lovely Thanksgiving. I had a very relaxing time. Not only did I accidentally make Focaccia bread, it actually tasted good. If you are wondering how I did that...

It all started one weekend  when the little curly haired boy came and requested a vegan option for pizza for his class party on Wednesday. Me feeling in the loving mother role promised to  make him a pesto  pizza.  I had visions of being kitchen goddess and making pizza absolutely from scratch. So I hunted down pizza dough recipes, decided it was a piece of cake and procrastinated until Tuesday night. I came home, measured out the dry ingredients - flour, salt and yeast and then proceeded to walk the dogs.I came back, started dinner and proceeded to add the water. Unfortunately or fortunately, I trusted my now fuzzy judgement and measured out an insane quantity of water and proceeded to confidently pour it into the bowl with the flour. Oh no!! this did not look right, it looked way too watery almost like pancake batter. So i added some more flour and then some more and then some more. Just to be sure, I added more yeast too then proceeded to knead it lightly on a floured counter and left it to rest. After the initial panic, I remembered reading something about Focaccia dough being sticky. I looked at Focaccia recipes on Holy Cow- no mention of sticky dough. I panicked, then a quick look at the Smitten Kitchen and yes - SK talks about focaccia dough being sticky.
So I patted the dough into a nine inch cake pan, pricked it with a fork, dabbed some pesto on it and stuck it in a 450 deg oven. And voila it baked into Focaccia!!!

Unbelievable but every bit of it is true. Now if you ask me to reproduce it, that is a different blog post.

The recipe or how to ham it ( modified from the Smitten Kitchen) makes 1 loaf.

1.5 c of flour
3/4 tsp yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp Olive oil
1.5 c of warm water

More flour
More yeast


Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Add the Olive oil and most of the water till the stuff in the bowl looks like pancake batter. Now add flour to make it look like pizza dough. You will fail, so add some more. When it looks somewhat like dough (still very sticky) put it in an oiled bowl and allow it to rise for at least  2 hours. Punch it down. Grease a round cake pan and pat the dough into it. Use your fingers to pat it into the corners. Prick the top with a fork.  Add your toppings.
Now preheat your oven to 450. When the oven is ready, pop the bread in and bake for about 18 mins. After 18 mins,  take the bread out of the oven and tap it. If you are not sure the sound is hollow enough, bake directly on the oven rack for another 2 or 3 minutes. Cool fully.
Slice in half and make sandwiches.

Some Focaccia topping ideas:

Caramelized onions
Nutty Cilantro Pesto
Sea Salt, Oregano and Pepper

Pumpkin Bread

It is the season ( you have to be jolly at all times me thinks so the song never made sense) to make all things pumpkin.  Starting off the season is... drum roll please
Pupmkin bread.
I have been using this recipe to make muffins for the past 3 years now and it has never failed.
http://muffintop.wordpress.com/2006/11/03/pumpkin-muffins/

In my first iteration, I used applesauce to veganize the recipe but subsequent reading of the posts and comments suggested that the bread was better with a full can of pumpkin. One more less ingredient and this makes a bread full of pumpkin flavor.

I have followed the original recipe with a few minor adjustments noted here.Baked at 350deg F for about an hour  in a loaf pan

* You might want to reduce the baking time a little. My loaf cracked on the top.. it was still good.

NGREDIENTS:
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
1 c whole wheat flour
1/2 c all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup canned solid-pack pumpking (from a 15-oz can)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs
1 tsp pumpkin-pie spice (a combo of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, and allspice)
1.25 cups
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp coriander (because it was there)