OMG!!! I made graham crackers!

Funny how certain foods come to be associated with time periods of our lives. That's how graham crackers are for me. Truthfully it's more like the past few years that there has been a serious absence of them in my (and my family's) life. I grew up with graham crackers and milk, lived on Teddy Grahams during university, fed organic honey grahams to my children, then discovered most mainstream brands have very unhealthy hydrogenated oils in them. I've often wondered how possible it would be to make them at home. Then I forgot about graham crackers (gasp! a food i could never go a day without for a long stretch of my life!)...until recently when, most unexpectedly, I happened upon a recipe at foodgawker.com. The process is really no different than making cut-out cookies!

HONEY GRAHAM CRACKERS

honey graham crackers

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup of brown sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp butter, cut up, chilled

1/3 cup honey

2 tbsp good quality vanilla extract

1/4 cup milk

topping

5 tbsp granulated sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

• Combine flour, brown sugar, butter, baking soda and salt to the bowl of the food processor. Pulse on and off until the mixture is the consistency of course meal.

• Whisk together the milk, honey and vanilla in a small bowl, slowly add to the flour mixture, pulsing until the dough just come together. It will be quite soft and tacky. On to a lightly floured surface, work dough into a rectangle, wrap in plastic wrap and chill until firm, or overnight.

• Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and set aside.

• Divide the dough in half, return one half back to the fridge for another round. On a lightly floured surface roll out dough to about 1/8 inch thick. Cut long 1 inch strips with a sharp knife or pastry wheel cut the strips into 2 inch cookies. Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment, prick each cookie with a fork the sprinkle the sugar cinnamon topping and bake for 10 min in a preheated oven set to 350 F.

VEGETARIAN TOURTIERE

Now I'm really going to cry...tears of joy for rediscovering one of my all time favorite holiday recipes! What an awesome, substantial, and scrumptious donation those French-Canadians have made to cuisine. This vegetarian tourtiere is like a piece of heaven in a pie shell. This is another great veg Thanksgiving alternative. Oh what to make this year?!

VEGETARIAN TOURTIERE

Ingredients:
2 cups TVP granules*
1 to 1 1/2 cups vegetable stock
3 tablespoons oil
2 cups onion, chopped
2 cups mushroom, chopped
2 cups fine dry breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon each salt, savory, thyme
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
pinch cloves,
pinch nutmeg
1/2 cup beer
pastry for 2 pies, tops and bottoms


Directions:

1. Soak TVP in veggie stock (it should absorb all the liquid).
2. Heat oil in a LARGE frying pan over medium-high heat. Cook onions until translucent. Add mushrooms and cook a further 3-4 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Add breadcrumbs and seasonings and stir. Adjust spices to taste.
3. Add wet TVP and beer (yes it should be beer for the taste, and the alcohol will burn off if you're worried about that), stir, and cook until all the liquid has evaporated but mixture is still moist. You may need 2 frying pans at this point. You may also need to adjust the amount of liquid depending on the heat and the absorbency of the TVP.
4. Let cool slightly.
5. Divide into the two pie shells. Top with pastry lids, crimp edges, and vent. Uncooked pies can be frozen at this point (no more than 2 months).
6. Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes, reduce to 350 and bake a further 45-55 minutes or until pastry is golden.

I like this all by itself, but if you want to serve it with a sauce try a mild fruit chutney or a brown veg gravy, HP sauce (if you're Canadian or a Brit), or A1 sauce (if you're American).
*TVP = Textured Vegetable Protein. Made from soy beans, this is an excellent meat substitute, available at many supermarkets, natural food/health food stores, etc. The granules look kinda like oatmeal. Tourtiere is a traditional Quebecois dish served at Christmas time.

Oh, how I love a veg Thanksgiving!!!

In our house we just love Tofurkey! However, finding such a thing in the part of the world where we live, well...not currently possible. After some serious searching, I have developed our own traditional favorite vegetarian Thanksgiving main dish. With this vegan recipe you can have traditional Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings.

VEG FAUX-TURKEY

INGREDIENTS:

2 lb. firm regular tofu, cut into thin slices
1/2 c. tamari sauce (or soy sauce)
1/4 c. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 t. ground sage
1 t. ground thyme
1/2 t. dry mustard
1/2 t. oregano
1/2 t. rosemary
dash cayenne (optional)

PREPARATION:

1. Combine the ingredients for the sauce and mix well. Carefully place the tofu slices in a deep pan and cover with the sauce. Let marinate at least 30 minutes (or overnight).
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Press your favorite stuff into a large oiled baking pan. Cover with tofu slices and drizzle with any remaining marinade. Cover tofu with remaining stuffing. At this point stuffing and tofu can be molded into turkey shape, if desired. (Never felt compelled to do so.)
4. Bake covered at 350 degrees for 1 hour: uncover for final 15 mins.
   
5. Serve with your favorite veg gravy.