momofuku milk bar!

last weekend, my mom was in town. we took long walks around the city, went to the museum of natural history, had a celebrity sighting (tracy morgan!), went to a concert (the dandy warhols. they were fantastic) and explored thrift stores in brooklyn. she took lots of pictures of said events. the only two pictures i have from the weekend?

grasshopper pie

candy bar pie

both from momofuku milk bar.
clearly, i have the right priorities.
-Lola

pancake sunday

is there any better way to start a sunday morning than with chocolate chip pancakes and a bon jovi dance party in your pajamas? with yogurt, strawberries, and syrup

i think not.

-Lola

vegan chocolate pudding

look at me, posting 2 days in a row! now lets see if i can keep it up.
i LOVE chocolate pudding. it's probably my favorite food ever (although i do say that about many foods). i remember when i was younger and went camping with some friends, we created a whole mythology around the dining hall's chocolate pudding. I don't recall the entire story, only that my friend N. was crowned the pudding queen and the rest of us had to say "I am mere whipped topping in your pudding presence".last week i decided it was time to say goodbye, at least for now, to jello instant pudding mix, and make my own pudding. my first attempt was a spectacular disaster. it started out promisingly enough. just look at this recipe. while i'm sure deb's caramel pudding was amazing, i burnt my caramel and my pudding was filled with unappetizing lumps, rendering it completely inedible.
so i threw it out, took a trip to whole foods, and tried again, this time with a recipe that requires no slaving over the stove and patiently stirring in cornstarch.
yum! this pudding is rich, thick and chocolately. if you're serving it to tofu-phobes, don't tell them its vegan and they'll never know. and remember...

vegan chocolate pudding from veg news, with a few small changes from me
serves 4
*1 cup vegan chocolate chips
*1/2 cup powdered sugar
*8 ounces silken tofu (half a standard 1 lb/16 ounce box)
*1 teaspoon vanilla
1. place tofu in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.
2. add sugar and vanilla to blender/processor. stir once or twice.
3. melt chocolate chips in microwave or a double boiler (it took 2 minutes in my microwave.) stir to make sure all chips are melted. add to blender/processor.
3. blend until smooth and combined. you may need to stop and scrape down the sides a few times.
4. portion into 4 individual serving bowls and chill for at least 30 minutes before serving. add toppings such as whipped cream, crumbled cookies, fruit, or chocolate chips if desired.
-Lola

p.s. how amazing was the US vs. Algeria match this morning? go USA!!!

snacks!

i was sick last weekend, which sucked of course, but i've been so busy lately that it was actually fantastic to have a break. It was also a great excuse to watch trashy movies that turned out to be quite entertaining (valentine's day, cruel intentions, and my new favorite movie, crank, in which jason straithern plays a hit-man named--seriously--chev chelios, who must keep his adrenaline high to slow the poison he's been injected with). i also ate some yummy snacks:cottage cheese with raisins, lots of pumpkin pie spice, and 1/2 a crumbled cinnamon graham cracker.
plain yogurt with pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, annie's cinnamon bunnies, and chocolate chips.
and also way too many chocolate covered peanut butter pretzels (from trader joe's). those things are dangerous.
-Lola

avocado strawberry smoothie

one of my favorite things about growing up in san francisco was getting to try an amazing array of ethnic foods. i have an obsession with asian desserts (actually, i've barely scratched the surface in terms of trying those. but i still love them madly and frequently try to convince my friends from the mid-west and the south that shaved ice with red beans, grass jelly, and condensed milk is a perfectly acceptable, and delicious, thing to eat. if you've never experienced the magic of asian desserts, here are a few more for you to look into: sago pudding, eggettes, and anything with red bean paste). one dessert that i have always been intrigued by but never tried is the avocado milkshake. unfortunately, we had no ice cream on hand, so i decided to try an avocado smoothie instead. with strawberries, which may sound weird but is delicious, trust me.
avocado strawberry smoothie makes 1 large smoothie
*1 1/2 cups soy milk (i used plain, but i think vanilla or even chocolate would be good)

*1/2 a ripe avocado

*frozen strawberries (start with a medium handful and add more to taste)
blend all ingredients until smooth and combined.
1/2 of the smoothie, partially frozen (i was impatient) and topped with cereal, dark chocolate chips, and a dollop of peanut butter. yum!!!
-Lola

homemade peanut butter cups

happy 2010 everyone!
my dad loves reese's peanut butter cups. i send him emails whenever i spot a new variety, and he sends me back a review (there are more types of reese's than you might think. i believe his favorites are original and peanut butter lovers'). so when rita and i spotted averie's homemade pb cups, we knew we had to make some for our dad's christmas present.
they were delicious! my dad kept asking how we made them and said they were "even better than reese's". high praise indeed.
they're also super easy. just melt some chocolate chips (use a microwave or a double boiler). spread some of the chocolate on the bottom and sides of paper muffin liners. let harden for about 10 minutes, then add a small spoonful of peanut butter to each cup. top with more chocolate (we added sprinkles too, because sprinkles make everything better. it's a fact), then freeze until hardened. (averie has better instructions than we do...with pictures too! click the link above. also, we used semi sweet chocolate chips and natural crunchy peanut butter).
-Lola

chocolate, date, and almond milk smoothies

"I'm taking you to cafe gratitude," my mom recently announced.
Tempted as i was to try amazing raw vegan food, i had always avoided the place because of the, for lack of a better word, hippy-ness, of it.
"Fine," I said, "but I'm not ordering my dish out loud. I'll just point to the menu."
"Stop being so judgmental," she replied, "they're very nice people."
So we went and when it came time to order, I found myself telling the rather perky waitress, "I am graceful". The thing about cafe gratitude is that all of their dishes are positive affirmations. So you order an "I am graceful" (bowl with quinoa, veggies, and cashews, and delicious enough to put up with the ridiculous atmosphere) then the waitress comes to your table, sets down your plate and says, "You are graceful" (which i'm not at all, btw. but apparently cafe gratitude is too positive to name a dish "I am exceedingly awkward and clumsy").
The most delicious thing of the lunch was dessert, a chocolate and date smoothie ("I am luscious").

Rita and I loved it so much, we decided to try and replicate it at home.
chocolate, date, and almond milk smoothie
serves 1
adapted from recipes included in the ultimate liquor-free drink guide and the complete book of raw food.
*3/4 cup almond milk (we made our own from this recipe. if you buy sweetened almond milk, you might not need as many dates and as much vanilla in your smoothie.)
*1 banana, frozen
*2 dates, soaked for 1/2 hour to an hour and pitted
*1 tablespoon hot chocolate powder (or carob if you want it vegan)
*1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1. blend all ingredients until smooth.
variation: I don't like bananas that much, and this shake had a definite banana flavor. I made another the next day with 1/2 a frozen banana and 1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt. I liked the flavor of that better, but it wasn't as thick. But for those of you who like bananas (which is most people. i'm weird, i guess), the first recipe is perfect.
Also, our recipe is more breakfast food than dessert.
edit: cafe gratitude's original recipe, which i have not seen, is available in their cookbook, "I Am Grateful".

brownies!

Back in high school, my friend Onjira would sometimes bring in home-made brownies for all of us. We all loved them, especially Eva, who would always take at least 5. So a few days ago, a friend from high school came over and we decided to bake brownies to bring to Onjira's birthday party the next night. We put almonds in them to deter Eva (she hates nuts), but it turned out that was unnecessary, since they were so good we ended up eating them all ourselves. Here's the recipe we used: best ever cocoa brownies from epicurious.