Last Chance to Vote in the Veggie Awards!
Don’t miss your chance to vote for all your favorite vegan products, people and places in the 2010 VegNews Veggie Awards! 
Allison’s Gourmet is nominated in four categories: Favorite Vegan Bakery (Online), Favorite Vegan Cookie Company, Favorite Vegan Chocolate, and Favorite Column – Veganize It!
But just because you love us isn’t the only reason to vote now. By voting you’ll be entered to win some amazing vegan prizes, and you’ll get to see if your favorites make the awards list published in the November+December issue of VegNews. Voting closes August 31st, one week from today, so don’t waste another second. Vote today, and if you vote for us, we’ll love you forever. 
Monday Yumday: Orange (Chocolate Chip) Scones
I was crammed for time this week so I chose to make something that was made up of ingredients I already had in my kitchen (or rather, ingredients that could be used interchangeably – ie agave nectar vs maple syrup) and something that didn’t require too much time. So, with that we have Allison’s Orange Currant (I used chocolate chips instead of currants) Scones.
Let’s get started – here’s what you need (makes 12 scones):
Dry ingredients:
- 3 1/4 cups unbleached wheat or spelt flour
- 4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 6 tablespoons non-hydrogenated vegan margarine or light oil (like sunflower or safflower)
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt (only if using oil; margarine is already salted)
Wet ingredients:
- 2/3 cup currants (I used chocolate chips)
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons rice milk (I used almond milk)
- 1/3 cup maple syrup (I used agave nectar)
- Zest of one orange
Procedure:
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment baking paper.
- Oil a 1/4 cup measuring cup (the kind that has a handle and the top can be leveled) and set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour and baking powder.
- Cut the margarine or oil – into the flour and baking powder mix – with a pastry cutter, fork, or your fingers until the texture is crumbly.
- In a separate bowl whisk the wet ingredients (including the chocolate chips or currants).
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry, lightly stirring until combined. Be careful not to over mix.
- Using the 1/4 cup measuring cup, drop the dough onto the parchment paper, one to two inches a part.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown. These are best when warm. Serve with jam or margarine.
I’m not sure I left the scones in the oven long enough because they weren’t quite golden on top. But an inserted toothpick came out clean, and they taste delicious. Before we get started with photos (yay!) please remember to send us your food pics, or post them to our Facebook page. We’d love to see ‘em!
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Fun with School Lunches
Wednesday was Olivia’s first day at her new preschool which means I’m packing her lunches every day for the first time. It’s all new for both of us, and pretty experimental at this point. I love the opportunity and challenge of creating healthy and balanced vegan lunches that she loves (and I secretly hope the other kids will think her food looks so good they’ll all want to go vegan too 
). This was lunch on the first day of school:
Clockwise from left:
Purslane (super high in omega-3)
Quick-pickled fresh garden cucumbers
Cherry tomatoes, also from our garden
Tuna(less) Salad Sandwich on millet bread with tomatoes and kale
Homemade trail mix – almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and dried sea palm
Homemade balsamic vinaigrette for dipping (center)
As a disclaimer, I have to say that Olivia’s tastes are pretty unusual for an almost-four-year-old. We’ve never given her any white sugar, so sweets to her are fruit and even cherry tomatoes. She also eats more kale than most adults I know. I think I packed a little too much food this week, or maybe she was distracted by the new place, kids and routine. In any case, she ate some of everything, but a lot of it came home again. Except for the cherry tomatoes, which as I mentioned, are like dessert to her!
For more vegan meal ideas that even your kids will love, check out my Veganize It! column in VegNews Magazine.
Unique and Delicious Fudge Flavors
I’m always a little sad when, around this time of year, I start to feel Autumn in the air. I’m a summertime kind of girl, and the transition to Fall means that cold, dark winter is just around the corner. One of the things that makes the coming change in the seasons bearable, however, is that Butterscotch Pecan fudge is September’s fudge flavor. 
Words don’t really do it justice, but let me just say that creamy, Butterscotch-flavored white fudge, with an intoxicating scent of caramel and vanilla, perfectly paired with toasted pecans is just the thing to make the idea of coming winter seem like not such a bad thing. You may be surprised that my favorite fudge flavor isn’t a chocolate one, but its uniqueness is part of its charm. Our friends at VegNews like it so much that it has become their preferred corporate food gift whenever we have it available.
If you have a monthly club fudge membership, look for this white fudge delicacy in your mailbox around September 10th. Or, for a memorable and inspiring birthday, holiday, or corporate food gift for compassionate, dessert-loving friends and colleagues all year long, consider a monthly club gift membership.
From Allison’s Kitchen
There’s a reason Allison owns a vegan bakery. Her magic and creativity in the kitchen are always in motion, creating yum-mazing desserts like this weekend’s Strawberry Ice Cream (made with coconut milk) and Blackberry Betty.
Yum Yum! The blackberries were picked by Olivia, David, Grandma and Pops at a local farm, then topped with a crumbly oat flour crust and baked to perfection. The ice cream was homemade too, and sweetened with agave!
Allison’s quest to always make more and more delicious and healthful vegan desserts to share with the world is just one of many reasons to vote for Allison’s Gourmet in the 2010 VegNews Magazine Veggie Awards. We’re nominated for Favorite Vegan Bakery (Online), Favorite Vegan Cookie Company, and Favorite Vegan Chocolate. Allison’s column “Veganize It!” is also nominated for Favorite Column. Vote now!
