The Chocolate Covered Strawberry
Six pounds of fresh strawberries were staring at me on the kitchen counter and although I popped one of those luscious red fruits into my mouth every time I walked by, I was still faced with a mountain of ripe strawberries by late afternoon. With very little time to make dessert, I opted to make a family favorite: Chocolate Covered Strawberries. Using two 3.5 ounce Dark 70% Green & Black’s Organic Chocolate Bars (although I also use a 9.5 ounce bag of Dove Dark Chocolate Silky Smooth Promises from time to time) , there were 50 chocolate covered strawberries chilling in the refrigerator within 30 minutes. Read more 
Vegan Banana Bread
Banana Bread is one of those recipes that I turn to when the fruit bowl is full of spotted overripe bananas. Delicious with morning coffee, as an afternoon snack, or as a dessert, banana bread is usually made with oil, eggs, and dairy products which is what makes the bread taste so good. So, the challenge is how to make a satisfying banana bread without oil, eggs, and dairy based products. For inspiration, I turned to The Happy Herbivore whose recipe for banana bread is very good but I wanted a banana bread that was a bit less sweet and one that had a crunch that only nuts could provide. Read more
The Vegan S’More
July 4th is right around the corner and for most people the celebration will include a barbecue, fireworks, and hopefully, a campfire. Traditionally, we sit around the campfire, roast marshmallows and either eat the gooey mess au natural or pile the partially burned white blobs on graham crackers with chocolate bars to make the classic campfire treat: the S’More. But, when you have a vegan in the family, making a S’More is a challenge. Read more
FoMu Alternative Ice Cream
FoMu is not an alternative to ice cream – but instead, an alternative ice cream or what the company describes as “a new take on a traditional favorite.” Dairy-free and vegan certified, FoMu is a hard ice cream made from either a coconut or nut blend base. The coconut base flavors are made with coconut milk – a creamy, natural and nutritious base that is sweetened with agave and unrefined cane sugar along with a trace amount of plant-based stabilizers (guar and xantham gum) whereas the nut blend base is made with almonds and cashews. Read more
Brownies (Vegan)
Brownies made without pure creamy unsalted butter and fresh eggs seemed impossible to imagine until recently. These were the ingredients – along with cocoa – that made brownies taste so decadent. But, when my daughter decided to lead a vegan life, I started to re-think several recipes because I wanted to make food that all of us would eat; otherwise, I would be chained to the kitchen making separate meals for everyone. Read more
Vegan Carrot Cake
For years, I relied on a carrot cake recipe from the The Silver Palate Cookbook, which was THE cookbook of the 1980’s. Full of carrots, pineapple, coconut, and walnuts, the Silver Palate carrot cake was my ideal of what a carrot cake should be: moist, sweet, rich, and mile-high. But, as I’ve gotten older, I’m less inclined to put 3 cups of sugar and a cup and a half of corn oil in a cake recipe; and with a vegan daughter, dairy and eggs are not optional ingredients. Read more
Jade Pearl Rice Pudding
Rice pudding is one of those old-fashioned desserts that can always be made in a pinch because most people have rice, sugar, vanilla, and milk on hand. A creamy and delicious comfort food, rice pudding is easy to make and can be dressed up with berries, nuts, or plump juicy raisins. But when a member of the family is vegan and milk is no longer an option, the challenge is to figure out a way to make this much-loved dessert just as flavorful and creamy as the traditional version but without the dairy ingredients. With plant-based “milk” – soy, almond, rice, and coconut – widely available at grocery stores, making vegan rice pudding is not only possible but easy and convenient. Read more
Kakawa Chocolate House
On a local street that winds around the historic district of Santa Fe, New Mexico, is a small chocolate store called the Kakawa Chocolate House – an ode to all things chocolate and Santa Fe. Well known in warm drink circles as the place to go for hot chocolate, the store serves a variety of this rich intense elixir made from recipes that date back hundreds of years.Equally famous for their chocolates – truffles, caramels, mediants, and Chili d’Arbols, Kakawa is also known as an artisanal chocolate source where the chocolatiers make their own blend of 80% dark chocolate. Nary a milk chocolate in site, which is how the artisans dedicated to balancing tradition with cutting edge want it. Read more
Simple and Crisp
Simple & Crisp is an organic and gluten-free snack food billed as “the perfect pairing” with wines, cheeses, ice cream, yogurt, tea, chocolate and even prosciutto. Extremely versatile, the crisps are dried fruit slices that are not too sweet and thus offer a perfect complement to so many other foods. For those who want the crunch of a cracker or cookie but without the wheat, dairy, nuts, or seeds, Simple & Crisp offers an alternative to the usual crackers and savory cookies on the market. Read more
When Only a Perfect Ending Will Do….
Purists prefer to use fresh butter and eggs to make a homemade cake rather than buying a store-bought version but for those special occasions when an exceptional cake needs to be sent as a gift (and arrive as beautiful as it looks in a picture and taste better than a homemade cake), look no further than a Perfect Endings Vintage Cake. Perfect Endings of Napa, California makes a line of vintage cakes – Coconut, German Chocolate, Red Velvet, Banana, and Devil’s Food – reminiscent of what a layer cake should be: fluffy, moist, and delicious. That the cake looks as good as it tastes is….well….icing on the cake. Read more
Paddock Post 