Unfortunately, I Haven't Been on Vacation

I've been neglecting this blog as I have been working a lot and haven't had much inspiration with food lately. Let me update you on what has been happening with me since my last post (in the form of bullet points, because I love bullet points):

• Work, work, work = money, money, and very little time for play;
• I have been incorporating a larger amount of raw food in my diet, mostly because I got a dehydrator for Christmas and I want to get lots of use out of it, and;
• I realized I've gained a bit too much weight since the summer and I've decided to cut down on the sweets!

Well, I was trying to cut out the sweets. I have good intentions. For awhile, I just ate fruits to get my sweet fix, but let's just say that's now over. Hah! I'm so weak.

Now that I finally have some time off work I have time to muck about in the kitchen, snack a lot while I work, make a mess of my kitchen floor, and break my spice grinder. I'm a little confused on how that last one happened.

I'm calling this a Mini Raw Apple Cheesecake Pie. It started out as any ordinary raw apple pie but then I ended up with a cheesecake-like filling. Bye, traditional apple pie.

I just threw things into the food processor so there is no recipe. I remember what I put into it, just not the quantities, so here you go:

Crust: oats, apple, cinnamon, ginger, raisins
Filling: cashews, dates + some soaking water, apple, cinnamon, raisins

Too Many Apples, But I Won't Complain

You guys know I love apples right?

Of course I love them all-year around, but there is something about an apple in Autumn that makes it special.  It's not an icon of this season for nothing, you know.

We have an entire drawer-full in our refrigerator dedicated to apples right now. Today, on this dark and rainy day (yes, another one of those) I decided a nice apple-y treat would be nice. Too bad it doesn't call for more apples though! One apple doesn't quite clear out a drawer-full.

Oh, and I finally landed a job as a receptionist. It's not my dream job, but you have to start somewhere, as they say. It will definitely take some getting used to, but I think I'll be able to handle it in time. Tips from any current or former receptionists, perhaps? I only plan to work for a year before (hopefully) going to college next Autumn.


Soft Apple and Almond Cookies
Not sure where I found this recipe. I'll update this if I find out.

2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 cup vegan buttery spread
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 flax 'egg' (1 tbsp. flax meal mixed with 3 tbsp. water; let sit at least 5 minutes to thicken)
1 cup applesauce
1 apple*
100g ground almonds

Preheat oven to 335 degrees (I know this sounds like a weird temperature, but it worked just fine for me).

In a small bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon; set aside. Wash and core the apple (you can peel if you want to but I didn't), then cut it into small cubes.

In another mixing bowl, beat 'butter' and sugars until creamy. Add flax 'egg' and applesauce and mix until combined. Stir in the flour mixture, then ground almonds and cubed apple to form a soft dough.

Drop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheets and bake, in upper and lower thirds of the oven, about 20 minutes, or until golden. Allow cookies to cool 2-3 minutes on the sheets before transferring to cooling rack to cool completely.

Just a note that I ended up with three cookie sheets of cookies, so for the third one, I just baked on the middle rack, and it only needed about 15 minutes to bake.

*I used a medium-sized Gala apple, but any apple would work here, I think.

Apple Pie... Cake

People think I'm crazy because I don't really care for cake, but I've always been more of a pie girl, myself. It's that age-old debate: pie or cake (I'm certain it's been debated since cakes and pies existed)? I will always choose pie because I love the crust—even more-so than the filling. I told you I like crunchy things, didn't I?

But today is about cake. And apples. Heaven knows I haven't blogged about apples already this month. I have a thing for apples especially in pies because they are such a versatile fruit. They work in most any preparation, in savoury or sweet recipes, and even as a condiment (I need to get on the apple butter-making train, ASAP).

When October comes around, I am eating apples pretty much every day and often buying more than I can manage. Since I had some apples that were going bad, I decided there was no better way to use them up than to make something with them.

Don't ask me how I ended up with cake. I just came across the recipe for German Apple Cake in The Joy of Vegan Baking and I knew I had to make it. I think it looks gorgeous and tastes just like apple pie. Don't tell pie I said that, though.