"Purple Elf"

Gosh..another week has flown by in the Kinky Elfery Kitchen. Lots of cookie bakin’ going on and your Elf took a major leap of faith with getting an iMac ‘bad-ass’ computer. That bein’ said, today’s blog will be short and sweet (using natural sweeteners, of course) since our new BA machine won’t be accessible until tomorrow. And, it will probably take your Elf a substantial amount of practice to move about smoothly in the world of MACs! Keep your fingers crossed. Introducing MacElf!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Before we report out on our FatFree Vegan Kitchen’s recipe this week, we revisited one of our top 10 recipes from 2015 on Tuesday. The Monterey Frittata was a recipient of a Kinky Elfy and with good reason.

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/01/monterey-frittata.html

It’s delicious and lends itself to a variety of spice modifications, if you’re of a mind to do that. When we prepared this (or as we say in the South, when we ‘fixed’ this) we noted that it might be fun to throw in a handful of baked corn chips to add a bit of crunch and kick the cayenne up a notch or two as well. So, we did and it was wonderful! We highly recommend this delicious dish. Don’t be intimidated by the three part recipe…it’s not that complicated and comes together nicely. Actually, it’s a lot easier because Susan had the foresight to separate out the ‘body’ of the frittata (the tofu and veggie ingredients), the ‘spice’ mix (a quick mix of flavors that can be experimented with) and the ‘cheesy’ sauce (really lovely and adds just the right amount of cheesy flavor). We added our baked tortilla chips just prior to serving on top of the cheese sauce. Twas a nice touch!

Our FFVK recipe this week has yet to be cooked but, alas, the day is young! We actually have our ‘mis en place’ to ‘fix’ the Fruit Medley Cobbler.

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/02/valentines-dessert-1-fruit-medley.html

Tonight is our monthly Vestal Vegans dinner club at Gigi’s and this recipe will be the Elf’s contribution (well, one of them. The other is cookies, what elfse?). First, we combined the fruit and maple syrup/vanilla and put in an 8” baking dish.

Then we topped that mixture with walnut pieces, though you can use pecan if you prefer. We happen to love walnuts. Next we combined our applesauce and turbinado sugar (and yes, we had that on hand) with the oats, flour and spices and spread over the fruit mixture. This was baked for about 30 minutes at 350⁰ and voila!! Deliciousness.

 We brought some So Delicious Cashew Milk Cappucino Ice Cream to top our warm cobbler and we are here to tell you that this is a FANTASTIC dessert along with an E.P.I.C. cookie, for sure!

As for next week’s FFVK recipe, we are going to revisit yet another of our favorites from 2015, only…you know, we haven’t decided which one we want to make. Our ‘elf-hunch’ is most likely the Healthy Hash Brown Casserole recipe but you’ll just have to read next week to see. Heck, we may surprise you (and Susan)! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We have a few pics of the Garden of the Elf but right now, there’s just not that much to see. It’s been such a cool spring, we waited until the soil warmed up a bit to plant. AND, we have revisited our Earth Boxes for our tomato plants. The little bitty garden we have has been over-planted with tomatoes which meant that we had a PUH-THET-IC harvest last year. Plus, this spot is getting increasingly shadier with the growth of some trees/crepe myrtles. So, we cleaned out our EBs, found some great organic soil and a place that gets full sun most of the day but not always the full heat (which come July/August will be a godsend). So, here we have EB #1 containing the heirlooms Cherokee Purple and Indigo Rose

Next is EB#2 with heirloom Pink Brandywine and hybrid Big Boy.

EB#3 so far has only one plant, heirloom Mr. Stripey. We have space for one more plant and will wait about a week before planting it so we’ll have some transitional tomatoes (being optimistic here) from when these first ones begin to diminish and we plant our fall tomatoes.

The rest of the garden is slim pickin’s but we do have spaghetti squash and white eggplant.

Also planted are okra, cucumbers, beets and zucchini but right now, there’s nothing you can make out that would be meaningful. But, you have the ‘baseline’ and as things start to grow (or not), we’ll keep you up to date.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Next week, we’ll review the FFVK ‘repeat fave recipe’ as well as share some of the frivolity of a most entertaining, fun and strong group of women.

We’ve been meeting monthly for a while now to share vegan food, loves and losses, joys and tragedies, animal tales, and a commitment to plant-based eating. Last night’s gathering was nothing short of spectacular. In the meantime—remember to laugh a lot, eat plants, love life and DO EPIC! And it goes without saying that our blog title is our elfin tribute to Prince and the loss of his enormous talent.

Your Elf!