Diet, Dessert and Dogs

Hope everyone had a great day today whether you were opening presents, enjoying a feast with family, or just spending time doing what you love (and you’ve gotta love those nearly-empty movie theaters, right?)

As promised, random.org has helped me choose a cookbook giveaway winner.  After reading all your entries, though, I’ve decided to alter the prize just a wee bit.

You see, the whole point of this giveaway was for me to send a gift to one of you–which meant purchasing it at amazon and sending it your way.  But I have to say that I was truly bowled over by how many of you chose Sweet Freedom as the book you’d like!  And while I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that you’d like to have my book, it occurred to me partway through the giveaway that, since I still have a stash of books here in my garage, giving away one of those would sort of defeat the point of buying a new book for someone. 

So I’ve decided to give away two books! 

One randomly chosen reader will receive the cookbook of her or his choice excluding Sweet Freedom. For the Sweet Freedom winner, I used random.org again and chose the person closest to that number who had asked for the book.   So without further ado, the random winners are:

Cookbook of Your Choice:

Lauren, of Celiac Teen!  Lauren chose Michael Ruhlman’s Ratio: the Simple Codes Behind the Craft of Everyday Cooking.  Congrats, Lauren!

Here’s Lauren’s comment:

“Oh my! What a fun giveaway =D. My pick would be Ratio by Michael Ruhlman, as it looks like a wonderful resource for learning the art of a recipe!”

And for the winner of Sweet Freedom:

Jessy, of happyveganface (comment #104)!  Here’s Jessy’s comment:

“oh man, Ricki – i can’t decide! what a wonderful idea for a giveaway! i love it, and thank you! to be honest, i don’t own your book yet (although it is on my amazon wishlist) & i’d absolutely love to! yay! keeping my fingers crossed! thanks again, Ricki!”

Congratulations to both of you.  Please email me at dietdessertdogs AT gmail DOT com with your mailing address so I can get those books out to you asap.  

And stayed tuned for one more giveaway before the end of the year, featuring one of my very favorite things!

“Does it involve food, Mum?  Because, well, you know it’s one of my favorite things, too.  And, of course, baseballs. . . “

When I was organizing my photos this weekend, I came across a fair number that I’ve never used in blog posts. Not sure why; maybe it’s that my (relatively new) blog-related compulsion to photograph virtually every dish I cook, bake, or eat has produced a backlog.  It also struck me that I’ve always depended on the kindness of strangers  to provide inspiration, unique recipes, or novel combinations of ingredients that often direct me in my cooking and baking exploits. And what better way to acknowledge their inspiration than to showcase some of these photos–and their recipes–here?

Since I began my ”Total Health” kick just over a week ago, I’ve steered clear of most sweets, including my greatest desire, chocolate. I have to admit that the restriction feels a tad less torturous this time than during the WOCA, when I would have hopped on the nearest streetcar named “Chocolate” and happily gone wherever it took me. Well, as it turns out, most of my photos depict desserts–how perfect for a sultry Sunday evening!  So here are some of the lost treasures that have been baked in the DDD household over the past few months:

These chocolate-cranberry biscotti, adapted from a recipe in Patricia Greenberg’s Whole Soy Cookbook, were my first attempt at these crisp coffee-dunkers. I wish I’d read Romina’s post about her own version before I made these, as I definitely baked them too long. While visually appealing, they were probably more useful as paperweights or doorstops than cookies.  After a long soak in a hot tub cup of tea or coffee, though, they were just fine.

Next up were Vegan Magic Cookie Bars from Susan’s blog. When I was a kid, we called these ”Hello Dollies” in our house (Why “Dolly?”  No idea.). Susan warns that these are definitely not fat-free.  Having said that, they were gooey, rich, and deliciously decadent. I had to give the rest away or I would have consumed them all.

These speckled darlings are Lemon-Zucchini Poppyseed Muffins adapted from one of my favorite cookbooks, Laura Matthias’s Extraveganza. With a tender, ethereal lightness, these muffins seemed almost too fragile for this world. Didn’t stop us from eating them, of course.

These gorgeous, golden beauties are Sweet Potato and Cranberry Scones, a test recipe for Anne-Kristin at Swell Vegan.  I adored these–juicy with tart cranberries, a base that’s satisfying, lightly spiced and not too sweet, with the expected heft you’d get from a conventional biscuit.  The HH and I thoroughly enjoyed these for breakfast (oh, and a few snacks). 

Another recipe courtesy of a fellow blogger: this Raw Carrot Cake and Cashew Cheeze Frosting hails from Lindsay over at Day to Day Vegan.  I’d been wanting to try this cake ever since Valentine’s Day, when we both participated in the Vegetable Love contest! My version came out a bit softer than Lindsay’s, so I just popped it in the freezer for about 20 minutes before unmolding and frosting.  Raw, with a mysterious magnetism. . .  This was yummy!

Finally, here’s a photo of the Double Chocolate Fudge Brownies from Ellen Abraham’s amazing cookbook, Simple Treats.  These are, quite simply, one of the best brownies I’ve ever baked or eaten.  See those chocolate chips gleaming in the sunlight?  These are so good, I have to show them again.  From another angle: 

Everyone I’ve ever served these to has flipped over them.  Aren’t they just stellar??  In fact, they might make you want to rush from the apartment, down the fire escape to the sidewalk below, and bellow at the top of your lungs, “STELLA-R! HEY, STELLA-RRRRRRR!!!!!!”

(Well, you just knew that’s where I was going with this one, didn’t you?).

Thanks to all my baking muses! Now, back to reading more blogs for new ideas. . .