February 24, 2013

Filled Pancakes


Before I was vegan, I made these awesome pancake-like things called Ebelskivers. I've missed them so much so I decided to pair my vegan pancake recipe with the Ebelskiver technique. The main difference is the texture. Ebelskivers have a very pastry-like quality while these are more like pancakes. I think they are just as good. They taste great served warm or cold. When eaten cold they are very similar to donuts!

I varied the filling in this batch: strawberry jelly, crunchy peanut butter, and chocolate peanut butter.

The secret to these filled pancakes is the pan used to make them. The one I have was a wedding gift. If you want to try Ebelskivers or my version you can buy the pan at Williams Sonoma.

Pam's (vegan) Pancakes

1 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg replacer (I use Ener-G)
1 cup almond milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoon sugar

  • Mix wet ingredients in a medium bowl. (Follow the directions on the Ener-G box.  The Ener-G powder, combined with the water goes into this wet ingredients combination.
  • Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.
  • Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and slowly pour in the wet ingredients and stir with a whisk until smooth.
  • To make the pancakes- make sure the pan is warm (medium heat setting). Brush the hollows of the pan with melted Earth Balance.
  • Spoon a tablespoon of batter into each hollow. Immediately spoon 1/2 teaspoon of filling on top. Then put just enough batter on top of the filling to encapsulate the filling (about a tablespoon) 
  • Once the batter puffs up, has bubbles, and looks dry on the sides, use chopsticks to rotate the pancake so the top is now on the bottom and in the hollow. William Sonoma's website has a video on how to turn the pancakes. 

I have seen vegan Ebelskiver recipes on the internet but have not tried them. If you find one that you like please share!

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February 22, 2013

Stereo Gals

Some nights I love having a girl-night (sewing tea towels, printing, browsing blogs by candlelight-like tonight, yarning, etc.) with the sounds of my favorite female musicians. Here are some of my favorites:

Ingrid Michaelson, Be Ok

Sara Bareilles, Little Voice


Kate Nash, Made of Bricks
Feist, The Reminder

Regina Spektor, Far
Yael Naim, Yael Naim

New Prints



We've become a bit of a block printing home this past month. I've been carving a lot of linoleum for printing on fabric and Luke has completely immersed himself in wood block carving. He bought these really great wood carving tools from (insert link to online store). They are handmade in Japan and are gorgeous.

I love the look of a wood carved block but (for now) I like the process of carving linoleum better than wood. There was definitely a learning curve that Luke experienced. It seems you have to be so sensitive and aware of the wood grain in relation to this design you want to pull out of it. Very cool process, but no thanks. I'll stick to lino for now.

Here is what I've been working on:





























This block has only been printed on paper but I will soon make tea towels for this block to be printed on. The towels will be for sale in my Esty shop (PamsSoapStudio.etsy.com) by mid-March.

February 12, 2013

Seed Swap



It's that time of year again when we begin to lay out the seed packets and plan the gardens. My inspiration for our gardens comes from the English Cottage Country style. I absolutely love the organized chaos it embodies.

We have two main edible gardens:

1. A vegetable garden with raised, wooden beds that is fenced in with wooden pickets and lined with an assortment of herbs and perennial flowers.

2. An herb garden that is divided into three, one-third-of-a-pie shapes that have a mix of annual and perennial herbs.

There is of course the assortment of flowering bushes throughout the yard as well as 6 blueberry bushes.



Not only am I lucky to have a husband that likes to garden from seed, I ALSO have friends that like to as well! This past weekend my friend, Lauren, came to visit and we had a morning seed swap over coffee and ginger muffins (recipe at the end)!





It is so easy to go overboard when ordering seeds. Depending on what you order, the seed packets can have anywhere from 20 - 100 seeds in them. If you're like me/us and you order 10-20 types of seeds, that equals way more plants than you have the space to grow. That is where the beauty of the seed swap comes in. Both individuals can order a variety and then share a few seeds of this and a few seeds of that. Seeds usually last one to two years...sometimes a little longer...depending on the variety, but I like to plant seeds that are no more than one to two years old.

Cigar box that I use to store my seeds packets


Ginger Muffins

2 Tablespoon Ground Flaxseeds (I use a small coffee grinder to grind them into a powder)
6 Tablespoons water
1/4 cup finely minced fresh ginger (peel removed)
1 cup granulated sugar, divided
zest from one lemon
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup nondairy, butter (I use the Earth Balance brand)
1 cup soy milk
juice from 1 lemon
Preheat oven to 375. Grease muffin tins.
In a food processor, blend the ground flaxseed and water together until it reaches a thick, creamy consistency.
In a small saucepan, combine the ginger, 1/2 cup sugar and cook over medium heat, stirring until the sugar melts and is thoroughly combined with the ginger. This takes only a few minutes. Set aside to cool and then add the lemon zest.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, salt and baking soda. Set aside.
In a large bowl, using a hand-held electric mixer, beat the non-dairy butter until smooth. Add the remaining 1/2 cup sugar and beat until combined. Add the flax mixture and mix until combined. Add the milk and lemon juice until combined. Add the combined dry ingredients and ginger-sugar mixture and stir just until blended.
Spoon into tins and bake for about 20 minutes.

February 10, 2013

IKEA


I was super excited all week because my friend Lauren was coming to visit on Saturday (yesterday)! We sampled ALL the rooms in IKEA (pretended to have meetings in office spaces and sampled bedrooms), ate delicious Indian food at Coriander, drank bellinis and watched a girl-movie at night. 


































One of my favorite things about IKEA is that it is full of inspiration for living spaces. I saw these great, but simple idea boards in a room that was staged as a creative space. Very simple pin boards screwed to the wall, and each used as a collection of ideas for different projects. I absolutely want something like this for my studio space.


































We have this coffee table in our living room! I love what they did with paper hearts! MUST do something like this for Valentine's day. I could step it up a notch by using stitched fabric hearts or prints of hearts to make it a bit more rustic.


February 3, 2013

Flavors of Morocco

I never considered myself a foodie nor did I set out to be one. However, I think I have become one! I LOVE food! Not in the overindulgence way but in the savoring-every-morsel type of way. I love to experience other cultures through their food. Ideally, I would love to travel all over the world to sample food but since I can't do that I settle for local ethnic restaurants and trying to cook the recipes in our kitchen. 

















For Valentine's Day mom bought Luke and me a tagine! "Tagine" is both the term used to describe an earthenware cooking pot and also the food made within the pot. The moroccan "tagine" dish, is a slowly braised stew. Traditionally, meats are cooked in the tagine but since we are vegetarians and vegans in this home I found a great vegetable tagine recipe.

Moroccan-Inspired Bowls
 My mom is so adorable. When she gives a gift she goes for the set. To compliment the tagine she gave us a set of Moroccan bowls.















Vegetable Tagine
from Williams Sonoma 
4 1/2 cups spiced tomato and herb braising sauce
3 1/2 pounds of trimmed vegetables (such as onions, yukon gold potatoes, baby carrots, cauliflower, fennel bulbs, and turnips)
1/2 cup cooked chickpeas
1/4 cup raisins
1 preserved lemon, pulp removed, rind thinly sliced
Sea salt for sprinkling

In saucepan over medium heat, simmer braising sauce, stirring often to prevent scorching, until reduced by one-fourth. 20-30 minutes. Remove from heat.

Position rack in bottom of oven; remove other racks. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Layer vegetables in tagine, starting with onions and placing larger vegetables toward the bottom. Add chickpeas and raisins in the middle. As you layer, shape vegetables into a mound, making sure the lid fits securely without touching the vegetables. End with smallest vegetable pieces.

Pour braising sauce over vegetables. Place in oven and cook for a little over one hour.