An Italian kind of Christmas

Sorry for the lack of posting but with the holidays right around the corner I have been running around like a mad woman trying to finish last minute Christmas shopping.

  Instead of waiting until Christmas to exchange gifts with my girl friends I decided to throw a christmas dinner. Normally I would have gone the Asian route but this time I wanted to find a dish that could be served "family style" because my girls are my family. So to the cookbooks I went. Needless to say I have fallen in love Betty Goes Vegan by Annie and Dan Shannon. Its a vegan version of the classic Betty Crocker cookbook, what's not to love!   I don't reprint recipes from cookbooks without permission because that is just a foul to do. So I reached out to Annie, via email, to ask if she would allow me to reprint her recipe, with credit of course. I honestly didn't think she woulI   remember me for Vegfest but she did and she said I can reprint the recipe!!!! I was totes excited!  I decided on the Manicotti with a Kalamata Olive Pesto Tofu. This dish is an undertaking but it was well worth it.

Manicotti with a Kalamata Olive Pesto Tofu

1 Package 10-12 Manicotti Tubes (cooked per directions on the package - you want them to be a little firmer than al dente so they don't get mushy when baked and keep them from tearing while you're filling them)

1/2 Cup Daiya Mozzarella Cheese
2 Tablespoons Vegan Parmesan Cheese
Olive Oil Cooking Spray
Dried Oregano and Red Pepper Flakes to sprinkle over the top
Sauce
1 Jar of your Favorite Pasta Sauce
3 Tomatoes (diced)
2 Cloves of Garlic (minced)
2 Tablespoons Braggs
1/3 Cup Red Wine
1 Teaspoon Olive Oil
1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
2 Teaspoon Oregano
1/3 Cup Fresh Basil (diced)
1/3 Cup Fresh Spinach
2 Tablespoon Fresh Parsley (diced)
Salt & Pepper to Taste

Kalamata Pesto Tofu Filling

1 Package Extra Firm Tofu (drained)
1/2 Cup Fresh Spinach
1/4 Cup Fresh Basil
15 Kalamata Olives
5-6 White Mushrooms
1 1/2 Teaspoon Roasted Pine Nuts
2 Teaspoon Sun-dried Tomatoes
2 Cloves Garlic (minced)
1 Tablespoon Nutritional Yeast
Heat oven to 350.

Put all the Sauce ingredients in a large pot and heat at a medium heat. Stir periodically. 

Put each ingredient in a food processor or blender (one at a time) and blend them till they are a paste. Don't worry about wiping out the machine after each ingredient - you'll be mixing them anyways. Put all the processed ingredients in a large bowl and mix with a large spoon until blended. If you have a pastry bag set or decorating gun, fill that with the Tofu filling and set it up with the largest tip.

Spray a lasagna dish with Olive Oil Cooking Spray. Take your cooked Manicotti Tubes and fill with the Filling - either with your pastry bag, decorating gun or just use a spoon and be gentle. After you fill each one place it in the lasagna dish. You should end up with just the right amount of Filling to fill the Manicotti Tubes.

Pour 2 ladles of the Sauce over the top and sprinkle the Daiya and Vegan Parmesan Cheese.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. You'll know it's done when the Daiya is melted and the Sauce is bubbly. Sprinkle Red Pepper Flake and Dried Oregano and more Sauce if you'd like over the top when you serve.>

I've never tried to make Manicotti, vegan or not so I had no clue what I was getting into. At one point Keithon came into the kitchen and said are you still cooking. I told him yes now go away. I love that this recipe calls for a lot of fresh herbs and veggies and it used my fav go to of tofu for ricotta! The manicotti shells are what I was most fearful of because I did not want them to tear because if they did then my dinner would be ruined and Cassi would be in tears. Needless to say even with all my careful planning and timing a few shells did break. When life gives you torn manicotti shells you make mini lasagnas. I do not waste food and there were no tears. A few curse words yes but tears no.  With my food processor being broken I was glad that the recipe said that I could use a blender to make the tofu ricotta and I am glad that I did because there was no way I was getting all of the mixture into my baby food processor. Once I stuffed the shells, I set to work on the salad. My plan was to do a simple green salad but I had a shit ton of fresh spinach and pine nuts left so I decided on a Spinach, mushroom and pine nut salad with a blueberry balsamic dressing. Now an Italian dinner wouldn't be dinner without a rich dessert so I whipped up some Diva Delights and an orange vanilla frosting so I could make Whoppie Pies. After dinner we sat around trying to come up with a catchy name for the pies but after a few glasses of wine we failed. My girls RAVED about the Manicotti which totally excited me because Bianca and I are the only vegans in the group. Had I not told them I'm sure they wouldn't have know it was vegan aside from the fact that I don't cook with animal products. My Christmas lunch was a success and no one notice the torn shells. I was a happy camper and I even pulled out the good wine for lunch, by good wine I mean my last bottle of 2 buck Chuck. Mama loves her 2 Buck Chuck but today I shared with my girls.

I made place cards for the table that were Winnie the Pooh character themed and had each girl try to figure out which one they were. Bianca. This game took forever but in the end Bianca is Pooh Bear, Amy is Tigger, Brenna is Roo, Nicole is Owl, Jennifer is Eeyore and Aisha is Kanga. Now I'm Christopher Robin, I explained to the girls that the reason I did this is because I don't have a best friend and the 6 of them make up the best of me plus no one person can handle all of the crazy that is me. The gifts I gave them were also Winnie the Pooh themed. There is a series of Winnie the Pooh "life" books and each girl's book fit their personality. Bianca got the Fitness one, Amy's was the Picnic cookbook, Brenna got Cookie cookbook, Nicole received Friendship, Aisha got Tea Time and Jennifer got Life Lessons. I also made the girls chocolate from the molds I made a few weeks ago at Five in One as well as some other chocolates. Of course they gave me gifts as well and this year my girls spoiled me rotten. All of their gifts showed that they really know, listen to me and love me. This has been the best Christmas I have had in years and I have my girls to thank for that. I could not have made it through this year without them.

If you have not gotten Betty Goes Vegan visit Meet the Shannons and get a copy! I could cook from this cookbook everyday and still not finish it. Every vegan and non vegan should own a copy of the massive cookbook.

The Great Cookie Debacle

  At 5 pm Friday night I sent the ladies a Facebook status that said you can start cursing me out now. I did not realize that by Saturday I would be cursing myself out as well. The invite says that we are suppose to bake 13 dozen cookies so I had my game plan in place. I would knock mine out Saturday morning in an hour and a half tops by using 4 cookie sheets and have the rest of Saturday to rest. WRONG!!! Earlier in the week Nicole sent me a text saying that she may not be able to make it because she wouldn't be able to get everything done in time. (she works 2 jobs and has a daughter) Being the Power Ranger that I am I offered to help her, on Friday night. It was no biggie its not like a had a hot date or anything and plus that's what friends do.

  So Friday before heading to Nicole's Keithon, Bianca and I hit up the Crosstown Arts Christmas party. It was a pretty low turn out due to the rain. But just like any Crosstown party it not disappoint. All the food was VEGAN even the items on the decorate your own cookie station were vegan. My son made and ate 5 cookies, he asked if I wanted one. I declined because I knew I would have over a 100 cookies in my possession in the next few hours. After hanging out and doing a little karaoke we headed to Nicole's so we could get to work. Armed with my cookie sheets and apron we set to work...almost. Nicole could not find her measuring cups. She recently moved and just like with any move things were lost in the move. So we headed to Family Dollar where we got her the baking basics, measuring cups, spoons and a cookie sheets with a cooling rack. Now we could get to work. Nicole went the truffle route instead of cookies. There was nothing in the rules that says she couldn't. We rolled 144 truffles. Yes I know that is not 13 dozen but we had a girl drop and I could not replace her. By 11:30pm the truffles were rolled, in the fridge and we were done. Success!!

8 am Saturday morning I woke up, walked Hollywood and tied my apron back on and set to work on my own cookies. I had Pandora going, I was in my zone. I finished my cookies by 9:30. I am a beast in the kitchen! After cleaning the kitchen and packaging my cookies I crawled back into bed to rest before setting to work on the food and taking Keithon to his Grandma's birthday breakfast. No sooner than I closed my eyes I got a message from one of the cookie members saying she couldn't make it. It was 10:40 am one the day of the party and most girl were done baking. There was no way in blue hell I was going to send a message saying that we would be another girl short. So I had to figure out some way to replace 12 dozen cookies. My first thought was to make cupcakes, no that wouldn't be right. So I went online and Googled "easy vegan cookies" hoping to find one I could knock out using what I had at home. No such luck everything called for one or two things I didn't have. Then I came upon a slide show of 25 christmas vegan cookies as I was going through the slides I stopped on the one of the gingerbread man that was frowning. The story of this cookie is from none other than Annie Shannon from Meet The Shannons. Her story was that she set out to make mini gingerbread men and her plan to to decorate them all cute and what not but they were too small so she was pissed and all she could was decorate with was frowning faces. This was my cookie because it was the day of cookie club and and I had to get back in the kitchen and bake.....again. I was not a happy camper but I refused to let the girls down.

Now it was my turn to call in a favor from Nicole. She was at my house and we got to work measuring and stirring. My poor hand mixer could not take the strength of gingerbread dough so we had to take turns mixing this dough by hand. A pink Kitchen Aid stand mixer is in my future. With the dough chilling in the freezer and the kitchen re-cleaned, Nicole and I sat on the couch and she told me, "if you start working on these cookies and it doesn't come together walk away. Its not your fault the girl canceled. No stress." After the dough was chilled I started rolling, cutting and baking. Pan after pan went in the oven. I had little gingerbread men everywhere. Once they were cooled I started to decorate them and of course I couldn't find my icing bag or my coupler so I cut a hole in a Ziploc bag and taped the tip on. The bag broke at the seams 6 cookies in! I tossed the bag and started with a new one. I finished 12 cookies and the second bag broke. I was done. I tossed the bag, icing tip and all in the trash and packaged the cookies. No stress remember. I did what I could do.

I only had the energy to throw together the food spread so I opted for simple things. At the Crosstown Christmas Party they had this yummy Crostini topped with hummus celery and olives. I made the same dish put instead of topping the Crostini with the olives and celery I put them in the hummus and tossed in a few chopped capers for good measure. I paired the left over hummus with carrot sticks as well as chips and salsa. I was spent and the girls would be arriving soon. Lucky for me Bianca brought an awesome crab dish using Match Meat. I forgot how much I missed crab when I had this dish. I need to obtain some Match Meat.

After getting settled and semi caught up we started on our stories. Since we have the new rule, "What's said in Cookie Club, stays in Cookie Club" I'll only give a brief summary. We have all had a crappy year but we survived it and even found a bit of joy along the way. Unknowing we were all going through a bit of the same struggles. My cookie is the Diva Delight because I am a diva and this year is the year where I am always trying to find the positive in things. All of my cookies were different on purpose. Some were small, some hard, some soft, some were big but there were only 11 in the box but I included a fortune cookie. The reason all my cookies were different is because each month has been different. In the past year I have lost almost 40 pounds, finalized my divorce, became vegan, lost friends, changed my religious beliefs and dealt with death. The lack of a 12 cookie was because I don't know what this month holds for me but I am excited to find out. Here is the recipe.

Diva Delight

2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. non-aluminum baking powder

1/2 tsp. sea salt

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup canola oil

1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 cup water

2 tbsp of Cookie Butter Swirl

What you do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix everything together in a large bowl, well!

Using a small/medium scoop, (or a spoon) place on lightly greased cookie sheets. Bake 10-12 minutes. Cookies won't brown on top when they are done.

All the ladies in the group aren't vegan and I have no problem with that so there were a few non vegan cookies but I was happy that a few non vegans made vegan cookies.

Brenna- Betty is my Friend  Double Chocolate Chunk Cookies

Aisha- Turn Lemons into Lemonade Sugar Cookies

Stephanie- Kitchen Sink Chocolate Cookies

Bianca- Chewy Spiced Molasses Cookies

Amy- Sugar Cookies with Sprinkles

Nicole- Coco dusted Truffles

Lisa- Chocolate and Vanilla M&M Cookies

Karen-  Oreo Cookie Balls

Jennifer- Gluten free Vegan Banana Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Cassi- Diva Delight and Soft Gingerbread Cookies

After all of the baking, wine, drama, tears  and laughs Cookie Club was a success. This year we gave our extra dozen cookies to Hope House. It is a school for children in the Memphis area affected with AIDS and HIV. I love my girls and am so happy we were able to come together again this year. I can't wait til next year mainly because we won't have to bake as many cookies and the club will only have 10 ladies. 10 is a good number for us.