There's a New Driver On The Road...

LOOK OUT WORLD!











Yes, congratulations are in order. (Or sympathy, if you're talking to ME). My oldest Sprout completed Driver's Education today. She was very excited. I was very nervous.

Here she is with her little certificate (I photoshopped out all the important stuff just in case my Mom reads this and worries about privacy on the Internets and all....)

Actually she's a great driver. I feel old though...

And here's the celebration cupcake waiting for her on the dashboard of our car.

I know I'm the only person on the planet who has not had Vegan Cupcakes Take Over Their World yet... call me a non-conformist.

I simply use the old egg- and dairy-free "War Cake" or "Wacky Cake" recipe I grew up with, making it into cupcakes instead of a sheet cake. I believe it's just about the same as the book anyway. Turns out perfect, tender and very chocolate-y!!

Chocolate Cupcakes

1 cup non-dairy milk or water (I use almond milk, I don't like the way water works in these so well, even though that's what my Grandma used)
1 teaspoon vinegar (cider or white)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons real vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup regular ol' Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350°F .
Line a muffin pan with liners.
Whisk together the milk (or water) and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle (obviously it won't curdle if it's water). Add the sugar, oil, vanilla extract to the milk mixture and beat until foamy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat until no large lumps remain (a few tiny lumps are OK).

Pour into liners, filling 3/4 of the way. Bake 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely.

FROSTING

1/2 cup shortening OR 1/4 cup coconut oil in a semi-solid state (use this if you won't have the cupcakes in a warm area)
1/2 cup Nucoa margerine (or other vegan margerine)
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 cup soy creamer

INSTRUCTIONS
Beat the shortening and margarine together until fluffy. Add sugar and beat for about 3 more minutes.
Add the vanilla and soy milk, and beat for another 5 to 7 minutes until fluffy. Add more sugar if needed to make it firm, I sometimes do.

Chocolate Makes Any Crisis Better.

So I HAD to make brownies today. Oooey-gooey with decadent chocolate frosting.
Doesn't chocolate always make ya feel better? (Even if the picture's crappy?)

See, the engine on my very old van finally bit the dust in a horrible, oil-dripping, green-smoke belching death-gasp.

And it's not even remotely worth fixing. And we are not in a position to do the car-free thing. I needed a LOT of chocolate! And a reliable vehicle.

Nothing to do but suck it up, and go car shopping. Which I hate. And cannot afford. Really. Mucho tears and hand wringing.

Somehow, the Higher Powers were smiling on me, because not only did we find truly an unbelieveable deal (with only slightly painful payments) - but it actually fits my long-legged family and our soccer/camping/T-ball/picnic/dog-show/more camping/car-pooling/Costco-shopping/home-improvement/bulky garden project lifestyle.















Behold, our new (OK, used!!) Mitsubishi Outlander Crossover SUV. (Whatever all that means).

Yes, I fantasize about a cute, little hybrid; but size, reality and budget tend to get in the way there... still, someday...
It actually qualifies as a Partial Zero Emissions vehicle (which is a good compromise at this point) and gets respectable mileage (we've gotten 29+ hywy so far) - far better than the guzzler-van. I can't complain a whole lot. I miss my funky "Vegetarian" bumper stickers and crappy DVD player. But this car?van?SUV?thing is sorta growing on me too. And has a mind-boggling stereo. So, there ya go. I'm feeling better, the chocolate's kicked in.

Here's my daughter's top-secret brownie recipe should you be in similar crisis or just need a choco-fix, which is a crisis in itself:

Olivia's Super-Chocolate Brownies

1/2 cup melted coconut oil (you can use canola oil but the texture will be different)
1/4 cup honey (*gasp*) or agave nectar (or, since it's expensive and I'm not crazy for it anyway, we usually use maple syrup)
1/4 cup soymilk
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 cup unbleached white flour
1/2 cup Hershey's Extra Dark cocoa powder
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup semi/sweet chocolate chips (We use Guittard)

Preheat oven to 350.
Lightly oil an 8 inch square GLASS pan.
Put the oil, maple syrup , soy milk and vanilla in a medium bowl and whisk to combine. In a separate bowl whisk together the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture with a rubber spatula. Don’t overmix. Fold in the chocolate chips.
Put the batter in the pan and spread it out evenly. Bake for 35 minutes.
Don't overbake. When STILL WARM but not hot, cover with frosting. Cool until frosting sets before cutting.

Frosting: (easier than it sounds)
1 cup sugar
6 tablespoons corn starch
4 tablespoons Hershey's Dark cocoa
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/2 teaspoon REAL vanilla extract (the fake ones just taste bad here)

Mix sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cocoa in a medium sauce pan.
Whisk in the water, this is hard to do unless you sift the cocoa and sugar first. Heat over medium until it gets thick and starts to boil - which does NOT take very long.

Watch it really careful and just boil a minute or less. Remove from heat and stir in the coconut oil, chocolate chips and vanilla. Cool a bit and spread/pour over brownies.