I am the Joan Jett of Chocolate Cake

The cookie that happened yesterday was just right. Chocolate discs with grain sweetened chocolate chips, turbinado sugar (organic, bien sûr)...

When I say that a cookie happened to me, I mean that exactly. I look into the pantry, grab a few ingredients, then see what can happen. Crank some music..... Preheat oven.... High quality cocoa powder, organic whole wheat flour, natural high end vanilla... you get the picture. No tip-toe-ing around leveling my cups fretting in my paisley apron... uh - uh....

Fierce in the kitchen and fearless!

I have decided that I am, after all the Joan Jett of Chocolate Cake....

Yeah, I said it....

(Just saw the Runaways, I was so waiting for that film - LOVE JJ, always have, always will!

Vegan Banana Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Vegan Banana Peanut Butter Cupcakes

Just because Doug and I needed a treat....and because it is still January here in New England.

The cupcakes have a fluffy banana batter rich with vanilla. The frosting is a thick layer of creamy sweetness with my homemade peanut butter whipped in. These guys did the trick!

Tiny Vegan Cupcakes

Tiny Vegan Cupcakes

So I have been participating in Dr. T. Colin Campbell's Plant Based Nutrition course via Cornell University and I must say it has been so exciting. Just think - consuming a Whole Natural Plant Based Diet can give you more energy, help you to maintain a healthy weight, avoid impotence, lower you blood cholesterol, the list goes ON AND ON! Check out his book The China Study - ask your local bookseller to get you a copy and your life will change for the better forever!

Meanwhile I have stayed true to my Vegan baking roots and whipped up these lovelies this past weekend, the recipe is from my first DVD Very Good Vegan Volume One, www.AnnaVeda.com for details.

What's Cooking?

Vegan Fluffy Chocolate Chip Cookie Sandwiches w. Babycakes NYC Vanilla Fosting

Babycakes NYC Vegan Gluten Free Gingerbread - OMG!

I am so happy with the Babycakes cookbook - if you like baked goodies, whether you have gluten issues or not - grab a copy of this book, get the ingredients and bake away! I cannot say enough about how good this gingerbread is - that is why there were only two little slices left to photograpgh for the blog - ha!

Also I made a huge batch of the Babycakes Vanilla Frosting - and yes, I did refrigerate it for the full 6 hours - such patience - then today I whipped up a batch of my very own Very Good Vegan Fluffy Chocolate Chip Cookies, which are not gluten free - and spread the frosting inbetween 2 at a time. So good, and not full of toxic fillers, or dangerous animal protein & cholesterol!

Check out the Babycakes NYC site at http://www.babycakesnyc.com/ We love your book Erin! More Babycakes please :-)

5 Day Vegan Cookie Challenge: Day 3 - Vegan Peanut Butter Bars w. Cherry Preserves

Vegan Peanut Butter Bars w. Cherry Preserves

Day three of my 5 Day Vegan Cookie Challenge - I craved peanut butter - a lot of peanut butter, and these bars did not disapoint. Most cookies I have baked involving peanut butter tend to be anti-climactic. (Does it bake off?) Not the case here. Crumbly, thick and involving 2.5 cups of all natural peanut butter, these morsels are intense! Also, an entire jar of Bonne Maman Cherry Preserves were layered in-between the base and the crumb topping.

No eggs, no butter - yet the dough held and all is well in AnnaVeda Kitchen tonight. OK - so, if you have been following this blog, you know that tomorrow brings an all new Vegan cookie. All right gang, tune in for more Vegan cookie magic "a domani". For more AnnaVeda Kitchen info please visit http://www.verygoodvegan.com/

Email us at info@annaveda.com with any questions.

5 Days - 5 New Vegan Cookies Challenge & Ayurvedic Tip of the Week

Vegan Applesauce Oatmeal Cookies w. Maple Syrup Icing

OK, so I have decided that today is Day One of my 5 Day - 5 New Vegan Cookies Challenge. Stay tuned as we will be posting pictures and info daily about this little experiment.

This will not be very challenging as it is winter, I am in New England, the heat generated from my baking keeps the place extra toasty and of course, we do love a new Vegan cookie here at AnnaVeda Kitchen. These cookies are moist, hearty and the icing contains maple syrup, which provides a nice old fashioned cookie vibe.

Heads up Wholesale Buyers! We will be showing our Vegan Cooking DVD Very Good Vegan Volume 1, at the upcoming NY Gift Show at the Jacob Javit's Convention Center in NYC January 25 - 29th. Details will be posted on the site www.VeryGoodVegan.com as well as here on the blog this week.


Ayurvedic Tip of the Week
We realize that Raw Food Diets are very popluar right now, however according to Ayurvedic tradition, your vegetables should be cooked. Your digestive fire - also knowsn as Agni - has to work harder to process raw crunchy foods. So steaming your broccoli, wilting some spinach drizzled with a bit of very good olive oil, blanching some carrots - would all be excellent ways to enjoy fresh vegetables this winter as opposed to making your digestive system work overtime to process raw vegetables. Gently cooking your veggies makes proper digestion & elimination much easier on the body. Just remember - do not overcook your vegetables, steaming, blanching, or a quick sauteeing will always do the trick. Email us at info@annaveda.com if you have any questions about Ayurvedic cooking - it is a great and easy way to make peace with your belly.

Vegan Chocolate Creme Filled Sandwich Cookies

Vegan Chocolate Creme Filled Sandwich Cookies

Similar in texture and taste (less the toxic store bought aftertaste) to a childhood favorite of mine, these cookies absolutely rock. The chocolate discs are mottled with crunchy turbinado sugar, yet the cookies themselves are tender and moist. The creme filling is the only truly naughty component because it contains confectioner's sugar. If you are interested in this vegan cookie recipe - email us info@annaveda.com
By the way FREE shipping is available right inow on our Very Good Vegan Volume 1 DVD.
Visit www.VeryGoodVegan.com to order

Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies

These were so easy to make it was a joke. Go ahead - try them out yourself. Cookies turn out round (they do not flatten out) and they crumble as you bite into them so I advise that you simply pop them straight into your mouth, do not nibble.

This recipe yields about 3 dozen cookies. They taste (and look) sort of like giant peanut butter cereal.

1.5 C Wheat Flour

1 C Peanut Butter

1 tsp Vanilla

3/4 C Sugar

1/4 C Canola Oil

Combine all ingredients, mix until combined - it will be a crumbly wet dough (see photo). Shape into 2" round spheres. Bake at 400 degrees 10-11 minutes, place on cooling rack. (Do not try to eat one straight out of the oven - you will burn your mouth - don't ask why I know this).

Last night, we dined at a friends's home in RI, empanadas and an awesome bean soup, topped w. crunchy lettuce, cheese and sour cream. Everything tased great and it felt nice to have someone else's cooking. There is so much that goes into food preparation, I feel that you actually transmit your energy into whatever it is that you make - food, art - whatever. So, needless to say I felt the friendship and goodwill was actually baked up inside of those empanadas....

Diwali Party 2007

Well here we go! My very first Blog entry... The Diwali Party in Pawcatuck was so much fun to prepare for, and having everyone over to celebrate was wonderful. Andy the Sitar player was awesome, plus we had no food leftover.

I will post the recipes and modifications used for the party. Moving forward, this blog will contain many of my recipes, as well as trial and error tales from my kitchen. Ayurvedic/Vegan as well as various Fusion/Misc. cooking experiments will also be detailed. Restaurant and Market reviews.....Books I am reading, projects working on, as well as some skincare and yoga info. A Blog...I feel so Judy Jetson right now!