Back On the Trail

     It is nice to get back into the driver's seat again with respect to blogging. My life sometimes resembles a hamster, spinning around on a hamster wheel. Somehow when you are younger you focus more on the fun aspect of life, rather than the mundane duty of paying bills, carpools and how to creatively disguise hamburger in 4 out of 7 meals.

     Which brings me to my next thought, the economy! I was thinking that just yesterday you could escape the grocery store with spending 50 bucks and score a good size pile of loot. Now it averages 70 to 80 bucks and there isn't a whole lot there.

     My husband and I are saving our pennies to give our youngest son(the dog whisperer) a puppy for his 10th birthday. I have to say he certainly does have a way with the canines. This weekend we are going to meet the newest addition to the Gould clan, a little Boston terrier preordained with the moniker Dibbit. 

     The only creature that might raise a stink, would be the dear Giggle, the Siamese/Persian cat. I am sure we will be playing referee for at least a month or two. But Giggle should look on the bright side, not only will he have his dry food to eat but Dibbit's dry food as well. The little garbage gut!

     Working at the Putney food co-op has been a great experience. I am a huge vitamin junkie and now I can add additional vitamins to my already overkill daily regime. I should be banned from the Wellness aisle and Web MD as well. In a single afternoon I can convince myself that I am dying of some really rare disease, when really I should just take an Advil.

     I am learning things that I never new existed like a PLU machine. What a cool and annoying machine . Cool because who doesn't like sticking labels on things and pushing buttons. Annoying because you have to have some sort of ninja touch with reloading the labels. A ten minute job turns into three monkeys surrounding the machine and slapping it into submission, when all it required was Dona and her ninja touch.

     The other cool part of my job is the cryovac machine, again the button aspect lures me in, and the machine does not disappoint it sucks the air out of anything. I really should keep away from it, because I don't thing is was made for my button fetish. I wonder what would happen if you put bubble wrap in it?

     Cooking vegan is a challenge because my number one priority is making it taste good. But really it is the old switch-a-roo game. The term vegan was invented in 1944 by Donald Watson and quite simply means "that man should live without the exploitation of animals". It has come to be more of a philosophy, lifestyle and a set of principles than merely a diet.

Vegan Trail Cookies

2 1/2 cups Pamela's Gluten-free Flour
1 tablespoons cornstarch
1 teaspoons  baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup earth balance 
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract 
3 tsp egg replacer mixed with 4 tablespoons warm water
1 bag vegan chocolate chips
1/3 cup toasted pepitas
1/3 cup shredded coconut
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 dried cranberries

In a bowl combine the gluten-free flour,cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda and salt set aside. In a cup measure combine the egg replacer and warm water mix well and set aside. In a standing mixer combine the earth balance and both sugars and cream, add the vanilla and egg replacer and mix well. Add the dry ingredients and scrap the contents from the bottom of the mixing bowl with the top to pull the unmixed sugar up. When well mixed add the last five ingredients and mix well. With a #12 ice cream scoop which is about 1/3 cup (for home use, in the restaurant we use #8 or 1/2 cup) scoop the cookies on a pre sprayed sheet tray and bake in a 350 oven until golden brown.

The way a team plays as a whole determines its success.  You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don't play together, the club won't be worth a dime.  ~Babe Ruth