In the Spirit of Thanksgiving

I hope this post finds you all well for the upcoming holiday.

Please remember, I hope not to offend; only to enlighten and to express my reasons for my personal choices.

This will be my second Thanksgiving where I have chosen to celebrate not at the expense of any other life. I will keep my commentary short; for now, I will only say that The Farm Sanctuary (a place I hope to visit someday soon), knows how to do Thanksgiving right. Instead of "celebrating" by eating turkeys, they celebrate the turkeys themselves for the beautiful, intelligent creatures that they are during their Celebration for the Turkeys. If only all Thanksgivings could be so joyful for all involved.

On a more positive note, this week my students were thrilled to be cooking instead of doing "work," due to the fact that we are officially on break in 14 minutes from this post! I told them we would make pumpkin cookies for the holiday, something I had not previously made and needed a recipe for. The first Google result was, of course, an Allrecipes.com gem! I HIGHLY recommend this for anyone wanting a simple, scrumptious, and seriously addicting, flavorful cookie for Thanksgiving. Simple batter with a not-too-sweet glaze on top. My school kitchen is now an Earth Balance-only kitchen (for now), both due to it costing the same as regular butter, and technically, our county's regulations don't permit actual butter use due to its saturated fat content (yes, we still use it anyway). I have more or less stopped buying eggs for them (in baking) because eggs are a PAIN to schlep and they go bad if you don't use them and, well, I feel better giving them egg replacer anyway, and it works just as well!

I'm not usually a cookie FIEND, but I just couldn't stop with these. I had FOUR today alone.

Here is the original link, and below you will find the even-better vegan version:

Vegan Iced Pumpkin Cookies

• Prep
  20 m
• Cook
  20 m
• Ready In
  1 h 20 m

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup Earth Balance butter, softened

• 1 1/2 cups organic cane sugar
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 1 egg replacer "egg"
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• GLAZE:
• 2 cups organic confectioners' sugar
• 3 tablespoons almond milk
• 1 tablespoon melted Earth Balance    butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground cloves, and salt; set aside. *Ms. S' special secret addition: a PINCH...pinchLETTE!...of allspice*
2. 
   
3. In a medium bowl, cream together the 1/2 cup of butter and white sugar. Add pumpkin, egg, and 1 teaspoon vanilla to butter mixture, and beat until creamy. Mix in dry ingredients. Drop on cookie sheet by tablespoonfuls; flatten slightly.
4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Cool cookies, then drizzle glaze with fork.
5. 
   
6. To Make Glaze: Combine confectioners' sugar, milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter, and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Add milk as needed, to achieve drizzling consistency.

Branching Out

When I decided I wanted to be a Family and Consumer Sciences  (a.k.a Home Economics) teacher back in high school, I always thought my focus would remain on sewing; that I would also be fortunate enough to always be at a school that offered sewing. And that I would always have the time, money, and motivation to do it. Well, life is what happens when you start making plans.

Sadly, I now teach at a school that has not offered sewing for several years. I sew a few times a year at best, which really doesn't make for a very busy blog.

What I did not expect was that, instead, my life would be taken over by FOOD. COOKING. Everything food! I did not take one single foods class in high school. Not that the interest wasn't there; I enjoyed cooking when I (seldom) did it, but it was more of a latent passion that did not become ignited until college. The more I learned about nutrition and food science, the more I wanted to experiment, the more I wanted to give the gift of delicious meals to others.

Fast forward to 2 years ago, and that passion evolved to the next level. Almost 2 years ago, I made the best decision of my life: to lead a vegan lifestyle. I always knew it would happen. The idea of eating animals never really 100% felt okay to me. I always used to say when I was younger, "I know one day I'll be at least vegetarian." This major lifestyle change is something that a person should not undergo unless they are truly passionate, dedicated, and, most of all-- READY to make such a drastic change. I tried it once a year prior to the final decision and failed-- I wasn't ready. My heart was in it, but I didn't have the resources or motivation that I needed. But, the more I read, watched, learned, and absorbed--all the while having to face Waldo on a daily basis-- I knew that it was time, and I haven't looked back, nor do I regret it for one second.

I could write for hours and hours and pages and pages on the subject, from people's comments to how great I feel to dealing with all of the negative criticism that gets hurled my way. But, let me begin by saying that, besides my personal goal of causing the least harm possible through the food I eat and the products I use, my primary goal as a vegan is to simply show others how good it can be. If you decide to eat more vegan meals or buy more vegan products as a result of my influence, that's wonderful. But, be sure: I am not trying to change anyone. Sure, in an ideal world, everyone would have the same views I do, but I'm realistic and I don't want to be one of "those" people who shoves their views down others' throats. I may get upset when I hear certain, repetitive, ignorant comments (I'm sure I don't even need to list them), but even then, I try and state my opinion with as much grace as possible. Then, I will hand you a cupcake and say, "Here, try this, it'll blow your mind."

So, since moving back to my home state and diving head-first into vegan recipe experimentation, my repertoire of successful recipes has exploded. I use every resource I can find: I used to use Facebook (deactivated, thank God), but now I rely on Pinterest, Instagram, and pure investigation. I can tell you all the best brands. You want cream cheese that doesn't taste like wet rubber? Get your butt down to Whole Foods or Wegman's and get Kite Hill. Want your cupcakes to not suck? Use Ener-G Egg Replacer, Earth Balance Butter, and don't you dare over-cream the wet ingredients or you will deflate those suckers faster than a sad balloon. I have SECRETS. I have a bag of TRICKS, all of which I will share with you, happily, as you take a bite and say to yourself, "Curses! This can't be vegan and be this good...it just can't!"

So, perhaps this blog will shift its focus from sewing to food, yet remaining true to its Decade Displaced roots. I have a pair of Jan Brady-esque canary yellow wide-leg pants en queue for a friend. Stay tuned there!

Stay tuned for recipe reviews and tips. I will, at the very least, make a believe out of you. :)