Eats and Beats

WHITEOUT!  

New cassette out from The Shivas and chocolate chip molasses vegan muffins to go with it.  My song of the day is one of the tunes I got roughed up to this past weekend.  Worth every bruise.  Ain’t It A Shame by Nobunny.

1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
cinnamon/pumpkin pie spice to taste (I do 2 teaspoons cinnamon 1 of pie spice)
1 cup pumpkin
1/2 cup liquid (soy/almond/rice/whatever milk or water if need be)
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons molasses 
1 teaspoon vanilla
chocolate chips (I do 1/2 cup usually)

Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet in another.  Stir the wet ingredients into the dry.  Add chocolate chips.  Bake at 400 for about 18 minutes in a greased muffin tin.  If your oven bakes unevenly, I suggest you rotate the pan 9 minutes in.
 

Albums of the week come from Mean Jeans and Pangea because those boys can twist and I’m seeing Mean Jeans come Saturday (which I’m stoked for).  Song is gonna be Gun In My Pocket by The Shivas.  The greatest band I’ve seen over 50 times.  Haaaaaa.  But really.  A great band that is releasing their truly superb album White Out on Burger Records come Friday.  Check it out!

This weeks treat was vegan molasses snickerdoodles.  Most vegan cookies can be hit or miss, or they can be fucked up really easily.  These are really simple and always delicious.  

1 2/3 + 1/2 cup flour (A)
1 teaspoon baking soda (A)
1/4 teaspoon salt (A)
1 cup sugar (B)
1/2 cup canola oil (B)
1/4 cup molasses (C)
3 tablespoons + teaspoon liquid (soy/rice/almond/whatever milk or water) (C)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla (C)

(B+C) + A  (If it is crumbly at all, add more liquid until it is a dough like consistency.)

Topping- 1/3 cup sugar + 1 teaspoon cinnamon 

Roll dough in topping first… I sort of expect people to know how cookies work so I am not gonna walk through each part….

Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes (rotating the pan at 5-6 to cook evenly)

Happy V-Day!  In honor of the holiday I made vegan raspberry and blueberry thumbprint cookies and musical valentines.  Today I learned that candy molds aren’t a substitute for cookie cutters.  So, I have a bunch of funny looking heart cookies but love is weird.  Album of the day is Love Songs by Bobby Darin (Nat King Cole is to balance it out).  But my personal album of the day is A Sleep and A Forgetting by Islands!  HOT OFF THE PRESSES! Song of the day is In A Dream It Seemed Real because it is hauntingly beautiful and uncomfortably resonant.  

This was my celebratory meal for 1 month of straight edge livin’ (on February 1st.. I’m behind in this bloggin dealio…).  Homemade mushroom red sauce (lots-o-jalapenos) and fried eggplant on spinach.  Book of choice is Dance of Days, album is Fugazi, and song of choice has gotta be Drink Deep by Rites of Spring.  I’m gonna keep up this lifestyle even though the next book is Please Kill Me…  I find Ian MacKaye and co. a bit more respectable than Sid and Johnny…..

So today I start doing this tumblr thing.  The lovely Sarah Cass provides the photo to start my blogging ventures.  I borrow the bread recipe from http://thatssovegan.blogspot.com/2011/12/monkey-bread.html and changed the coating and glaze to be maple cinnamon (with a bit less sugar).  

Gone Bananas by Nick Thorburn was the song this recipe got stuck in my head…. I was monkeying around. 

krecs:

Kendl Winter’s new LP, The Mechanics of Hovering Flight, and The Maxines’ Drugstore 7” officially release today!  Behold our celebration piece, delicious vegan Monkey Bread. (The Monkey Bread was made by our intern (and highly talented vegan baker) Katy Hampton).  Three cheers to delicious folk & rock and roll!