Sweet & Sara Kicks Major Ass!
I am in love with these
Sweet & Sara marshmallows. I'm forcing myself to a daily limit of only two coconut marshmallows or else the whole package would've been gone days ago. Unfortunately for me, be is in love with them too. I guess the only option is to order more!
As a kid, i ate marshmallows but they laid quite low on the candy-love scale. I didn't really like
Mallow Cups but ate them anyway, didn't really enjoy toasted coconut covered marshmallows but yes, ate them anyways... the exception was
Peeps, which i totally despised. I never liked the ultra fluffiness, the way they squished in the mouth -- it reminded me of the way the aliens on
V would eat those soft-looking mice. I did, however, love Rice Krispies treats and made them often.
When i went vegetarian in January 1992, giving up marshmallows was not a big deal. The only exception was those Rice Krispies treats but ever since the discovery of
Fluff, i've satisfied my cravings. (Perhaps i've even overdosed on Fluff as i haven't touched that Fluff tub in the pantry for quite a while!) [FYI Fluff is vegetarian but not vegan; i'm going to soon check out some vegan marshmallow creme brands.]
Now as for actual marshmallows, i missed out on trying the vegan brand that popped into Whole Foods a few years back. When i first saw them, it was during the whole "homemade" marshmallow craze and since i wasn't that into marshmallows, i wasn't quick to buy a package. Then seemingly overnight they disappeared. I noticed their absence once we bought a charcoal grill and got hit with s'mores cravings. But after viewing these videos (part
one, part
two) it all made sense. (Short version: seemingly vegan jel used by indie marshmallow companies was tested and found to contain animals, manufacturer disappeared after being found out.) The videos then focus on Sara Sohn's quest to create a truly delicious vegan marshmallow.
Okay, not only are these the BEST marshmallows i've ever had, they're vegan, from a small independent company, and owned and operated by a vegan Asian American woman from Queens! If your natural food store stocks Sweet & Sara marshmallows you should run out a get some immediately! I've already written my local stores in Philadelphia but until they get on the ball, i'm ordering from
Vegan Essentials or buying in New York. YES they are that good. I didn't think i really liked marshmallows until now!
The coconut marshmallows are absolutely incredible. The coconut isn't overly toasted and dry like most other brands. The interior is creamy, soft, firm-pillowy and nicely sweet. Seriously, i could eat a whole box in a sitting. The vanilla marshmallows have a strong vanilla flavor and seem a bit sweeter to me. I love these as well but prefer the coconut ones when eating straight out of the package. I've been trying to grill for two weekends now but have been rained out both times! So we haven't had a chance to roast the vanilla ones to make s'mores. I know they're going to be amazing and cannot wait!
Serious props to
Sweet & Sara for the best marshmallows ever!
We're Losers
A few weeks ago,
J brought us some cinnamon fiddlehead ferns from her mom's place in upstate New York! We've only ever had them once before, sauteed with some oil, salt & pepper. I was very excited to try these ferns out, which were much smaller and brighter green than the ones i bought from Whole Foods a few years ago. However, problems arose: we were so busy the next few nights and didn't have time to cook, we weren't sure exactly how much of the ferns we could eat, and even freaked out a tiny bit when doing online research about the long cooking methods needed to prevent possible food poisoning! Some of the ferns are currently still fine in the fridge, so if all goes well i'll cook them tonight!
Kicking the Crap Out
Okay so i'm jumping on the
Vrapple bandwagon. I don't remember where i read about this vegan scrapple first, but it's been all over the vegan/vegetarian and Philadelphia-region blogs recently. I wouldn't have tried it if not for Omar's neverending love for scrapple. He's the only person i know who eats it regularly. From
wikipedia, scrapple is:
... a savory mush of pork scraps and trimmings combined with cornmeal and flour, often buckwheat flour. The mush is formed into a loaf, and slices of the scrapple are then fried before serving. Scraps of meat left over from butchering, too small to be used or sold elsewhere, were made into scrapple to avoid waste. Scrapple is best known as a regional food of Delaware, South Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.
Vrapple is a vegan version of scrapple made from seitan, cornmeal, buckwheat and spices. It fries up very nicely in a cast iron skillet, with a nice crunchy outside and soft meat-like inside. It's quite peppery and has a sweet mapley taste which i didn't expect. I'm not sure i like it, but i like knowing there's a meat-free version if i ever want it. For breakfast faux meats, my favorite is still the non-organic* Breakfast Links from
Boca, of course fried up in a skillet until nice and browned. FYI i bought my small block of vrapple at
Essene in Queen Village.
*I've tried the organic Boca Breakfast Links a few times from different stores and every single box has been mushy and weird. The non-organic Boca Breakfast Links, however, are so tasty and much firmer. Scary.
Essentially Excited
I cannot wait for my
Vegan Essentials order to come in next week! In it are two things i've been salivating to try: vegan marshmallows from
Sweet & Sara (go Asian Americans!) and vegan cheeses from
Sheese (we ordered the smoked cheddar, medium cheddar and the blue) and
Teese (mozzarella). Too bad they're out of stock of
Chocoreale, which i learned about from the
Urban Vegan. We love our
Nutella so it's good to know there's a delicious animal-ingredient-free version out there.
If all goes well, i'm so roasting the marshmallows over our trusty grill to make s'mores! I'll report back on the vegan cheeses soon!
Lastly, check out this website
Vegans of Color!
Bibiscotti
I'm going crazy and eating 5-10 biscotti per day. This is what happens when you bake your own and suddenly have 60 pieces instead of a tiny container that cost $4.00 from the store. Well, except in my case the count was closer to 120 since i made two batches in one week. I gave a lot away, brought some to work and shared it amongst 3 offices, and even saved a few pieces for be!
I had never made any biscotti before, so in my research i found that biscotti is divided into two types: with butter and without butter. Traditionally, biscotti is made without butter, resulting in a crunchier, harder cookie. The ones containing butter make a crumblier, softer cookie. I used
this recipe and followed it closely, except that i cut my slices 1/2" thick instead of 3/4". I also couldn't find Dutch-processed cocoa so i used regular, and instead of instant espresso powder i used regular espresso grounds.
The first batch was insanely delicious. I love crunchy cookies and these were perfectly nutty, roasty and chocolatey. The chocolate flavor was from the cocoa as well as ground up bittersweet chocolate, but i missed having actual chocolate chunks. For the second batch, i did the same as the first except i added an additional cup of chocolate mini chunks to the batter. As you can see in the biscotti to the right, the second batch ended up darker and denser. The chunks were too small to affect the crunch or texture of the batch, but it did affect the flavor immensely - much more roasty and toasty, with a stronger espresso-like flavor.
Next up, i'll try the same recipe but with larger chocolate chunks, settle on a good lavender citrus biscotti recipe, and perhaps try a regular plain almond one. Some people are stupidly hilarious; recipe comment sections occasionally contain a complaint about the cookies being "too hard" and "not sweet enough," when that's the whole point of biscotti!
