Happy Father's Day!

I'm a proponent of beginning with dessert, and I'm so pleased to begin with 'Coconut Heaven Cupcakes' from Vegan with a Vengeance. These are easily the best cupcakes I've ever made (vegan & non), and possibly the best I've ever eaten. They are dense coconut cupcakes topped off with fluffy coconut icing. I used coconut extract instead of vanilla in the cakes & icing, let's do organic coconut, and topped them with a blueberry for color. The recipe should really come with a warning label for dieters "You can't eat just one". I'm telling ya...these are so delicious, and if you like coconut, you will LOVE these cupcakes.

Olivia painted a picture for Art. She said it had a yellow and a blue sun. She made finger prints all over and fingerpainted a bird. We only had blue, yellow, & red ~ and she mixed to also have orange, green, & purple. Every year, I pick out a new bedtime story and write Happy Father's Day & the year with a Sharpie. This year, I picked up, "What Am I?" It's a really cute animal guessing game book. Speaking of guessing games.....read on.



While she painted, I made 'Banana Bread' from "The Vegan Family Cookbook", which touts that this will be the best banana bread you will ever have! It is really good. Among other ingredients, this recipe call for egg replacer, 2 very ripe bananas, soy milk, & silken tofu. The bread also fills the house with a wonderful aroma, and I think this loaf would have gotten more attention if it weren't for the coconut cupcakes! (the only downside of beginning with dessert)


A guessing game: What vegetable do you think this is? Hints: It has thick skin, golden roots with purple shoulders. They are carrot-sweet and slightly peppery, with a golden flesh that tastes like a cross between a turnip and a yellow-fleshed sweet potato. Here is the mystery vegetable after being peeled, cubed and boiled. Below, you'll see it mashed with soybean margarine & sea salt. Comment on your mystery veggie guess & I'll comment back later with the answer.



I had a lot of fun cooking Art's Father's Day dinner. I began cleaning the collard greens by cutting out the spine, folding the leaf in half, & cutting into strips. I put the collard greens into a large pot, covered with water, added some sea salt, & brought to a boil, reducing the heat for an hour. Then, I changed the water, added some onion & soybean margarine and brought to a boil again. In a skillet, I browned each side of the Veats Bites, then added some Island Teriyaki sauce by Soy Vay along with some fresh green beans and a half can of pineapple ~ & let that simmer together. On the plate you see: a dual bed of mashed mystery vegetable and jasmine rice, topped with collard greens and veats bites & a thick tomato slice. Art called this 'Soul Food' and said it was the best meal I've made him. Wow! Happy Father's Day.