Oatmeal Date Cookies

oatmeal date cookies, originally uploaded by mysterybridgers.

Most of you that know me personally know that I like to knit. I joined Ravelry a while back and it has been a great resource for thrifty people like me. Through one of the forums on Ravelry, I learned about Sort Floor Books. They have all types of books that are remainders, used, or have some minor damage that make them unsellable at full price. So, Sort Floor Books sells them at deep discounts (usually at least 50% off)--and the best thing is that there is free shipping if your order is over $15. Their selection of cookbooks varies depending on the day you look, but we have found a few real bargains. One such bargain was The Dessert Bible by Christopher Kimball for $6. I got it because we don't have a lot of dessert books and I wanted some resources for what to do with leftover summer fruit. I'll post later about the fantastic rhubarb compote I made out of this book, but first we wanted to show you these oatmeal date cookies from the book. They are the best oatmeal cookies I have ever tasted.

These cookies are pictured on the front cover of the book and as the cookbook sat on our dining table for a few days, we both developed a craving for the delicious looking cookies. I generally dislike raisins in cookies so I was happy to see dates used instead of raisins (of course the recipe also includes instructions on how to make them with raisins). These cookies are very easy (other than the chopping of the dates, which can be a messy job), but you really do need to follow the instructions in order for them to come out right. The recipe requires that the cookies come out of the oven after 15 minutes even though they will look underdone. They are not really underdone and when they cool they end up having crispy edges and a nice chewy middle. Yum! We only made half a batch the first time, which yields 12 cookies, but then we had to make the "rest" of the cookies and cooked another half batch. They were just as delicious both times. And hey, there are lots of oats in these cookies, so they can't be all bad for us right?

Indian black eyed peas, corn, and dill

Indian black eyed peas and corn, originally uploaded by mysterybridgers.

Another super simple World Vegetarian recipe that turned out really well. The original recipe called for dried beans, but we used two cans of black eyed peas and made this recipe in 20 minutes rather than 2-3 hours. So when the rice was done, the dish was done. Even with the dramatically reduced cooking time, this was really really good. However, it was stellar the next day. All of the spices really soaked into the black eyed peas and made them super tasty. We had some of the leftovers in a tortilla with some scrambled eggs in the morning and it was fantastic as a breakfast burrito.

If you want to know one of the secrets to cooking Indian food at home here it is: curry leaves. They are fantastic and give recipes that signature Indian flavor. We have only been able to find them at Indian grocers, so if you have one near you, buy a big bag of them and put them in everything!

Mock Lamb Curry

Mock Lamb Curry, originally uploaded by mysterybridgers.

Another recipe from World Vegetarian. This turned out fantastic even though I had my doubts about the texture of the seitan when it cooked for a few minutes longer than I usually cook seitan. As it turns out the texture was just fine and it had absorbed all of the yummy spices that are in this. It was really good with a little bit of non-fat yogurt on top.

Birthday Strawberry Mint Milkshake

Today is Optimistic's birthday, and among other things, we made her a strawberry-mint milkshakes. I got one too, which is just an added bonus, since it isn't my birthday.



Blend a whole pint of strawberries, ten or so fresh peppermint leaves, just a tiny bit (two teaspoons or so) of Agave Nectar or your sweetener of choice, and an entire pint of your "ice cream" of choice. We usually use, Maggie Mudd's Soy Vanilla, which is a true masterpiece of soy based ice-cream, and the ENTIRE PINT has just 2 grams of fat. But this week, the soy vanilla was in short supply, so we had to settle for a low-fat frozen yogurt.

Visceral Cupcake

Return of the Green Tea Cupcake! This time we replaced the liquid in the frosting with the juice and fine strained pulp from around 20 deep red cherries from Twin Girls Farm, which I ran through a food mill, (the cherries, not the farm.) I don't recommend this method for juicing the cherries, the pits jump out of the mill and hit you in the face, leaving a fine spatter of cherry mist that would convince Dexter Morgan that you warranted his special attentions. (If you absolutely must try it, pit the cherries first.)

Anyhow, the end result, a rich, intense green-tea and cherry icing, was simply fantastic, and really set off the green tea cupcakes.

Unfortunately, with so much cherry juice, the consistency was less an icing and more of a glaze, leading to this sort of delicious mess.

Sweet and Sour Tofu Balls

Sweet and Sour Tofu Balls, originally uploaded by mysterybridgers.

Sweet and Sour Tofu Balls is an oldie but a goody at our place. It comes from one of the first cookbooks I ever purchased, Tofu Cookery. They are remarkably easy to make and are very tasty. The balls are a mix of tofu, peanut butter, flour, soy sauce, mushrooms (we used a ton of shiitakes--way more than the recipe called for), water chestnuts or celery (we used celery), green pepper and green onion. They are baked for 20 minutes and then covered with a sweet and sour sauce that contains pineapple juice, honey, apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, arrowroot or cornstarch (we used cornstarch because we were all out of arrowroot), and garlic (the recipe calls for garlic powder, but since we didn't have any, we used a mix of fresh garlic and a tiny bit of garlic salt). The balls are served over rice and you can put some more soy sauce on them if they need a little saltiness.

Tofu Cookery is a great cookbook if you ever cook with tofu. It has some surprisingly tasty recipes. The danishes, bbq tofu, and tofu potato salad are some of our favorites.

Campanelle with Vodka Tomato Sauce

Campanelle with Vodka Tomato Sauce, originally uploaded by mysterybridgers.

This was supposed to be Ziti with Vodka Tomato Sauce. We had no ziti, so campanelle subbed just fine. Vodka tomato sauce is a classic recipe, but this vegan version is much less rich than the traditional recipe. This recipe variation comes from an old Vegetarian Times (but is excerpted from Totally Dairy-Free Cooking by Louis Lanza and Laura Morton). Soy milk is substituted for the traditional cream in the recipe. Other than that, the ingredients are pretty much the same as the traditional recipe: olive oil, garlic, chopped onion, basil, red pepper flakes, vodka (6 tablespoons), canned plum tomatoes, and pasta. If you start the sauce when you start the pasta water to boil, the sauce will be done when the pasta is done and you will have dinner in under 30 minutes. It may sound like there is a lot of vodka in this recipe, but it is cooked with the onions and all of the alcohol is cooked off. All you are left with is some vodka flavor. I know that vodka is typically known for having no flavor, but it really does add something to the recipe.