Have you started making your holiday gifts yet? What?! It’s already that time of year again? I know, I know . . .

This is a project that i’ve been meaning to do for years – yes, literally years – but it takes a few weeks to complete, and I’d never had my act together far enough in advance. But this year . . . this year I remembered! And I took myself and my baby to the liquor store, and we got us some vodka, and we went to the herb shoppe, and we got us some vanilla beans, and we got this project started a whole whopping 6 weeks ahead of deadline. Woo-hoo!

And now you, dear friends, have 5 weeks, which is plenty of time to make your own lovely, handcrafted, better-than-anything-you-could-ever-buy, delicious vanilla extract. Such a sweet and simple gift; both practical and charming (the best kind!)

But don’t wait on this one! 4 weeks is really the minimum amount of time required. Here’s what you’ll need:



- Vodka (you can use this website to determine which brands are vegan!)
- Vanilla beans
- Lime (for the cocktail, obvi)

* Note: I used 4 vanilla beans in a standard 750 ml bottle. Adjust the amount of beans to suit the volume of vodka you use; err on the side of extra beans.


To make your extract, begin by pouring off about 2 shots worth of vodka. Maybe pour them over ice into a swanky lowball (or small mason jar if you’re a hippie like me). Maybe add some lime soda and a liberal splash of lime. Maybe . . . wait what? Oh yes, the extract.

Cut the vanilla beans into pieces. Drop them in the vodka.



Out of sight, out of mind. Put the bottle away for 4-6 weeks. When you pull it out again, it will be a dark amber color (I’ll show you mine when it’s done!)

Pour the solution through a mesh strainer or cheesecloth, then transfer to small bottles. Pretty bottles work well if you’re gifting. If you’re just making this for yourself (it’s significantly cheaper than buying real vanilla extract), you can simply use old maple syrup bottles, old salad dressing bottles, or even old mason jars. The end, so easy.

Now, about that cocktail . . .



Here’s some light reading material to keep you and your cocktail company – a little list of past “Homemade Holidays” projects:

Vegan Taxidermy
Vanilla Bean Sugar
Reusable “Java Jackets”
Crock Pot Candles
Custom Tea Bags

Regardless of whether it’s all store-bought or farmer fresh, this simple soup will certainly hit the spot. With a slight arugula spice, a nip of apple tart, and a heart that’s anchored in taters, you really just can’t go wrong. This is a seasonal celebration soup, so ladle up a bowl while you contemplate the awesomeness of autumn. And enjoy!


Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium potatoes, cubed
1 yellow onion, diced
2 stalks celery
2 cloves garlic, pressed or finely diced
1 tart apple (I used a lovely organic granny smith)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3 cups veggie broth + 1 cup water
1/4 cup dry sherry or vermouth

1 pinch nutmeg
1 teaspoon thyme (or 2 teaspoons fresh)
1 teaspoon oregano (or 2 teaspoons fresh)
1 pinch ginger

1 teaspoon agave
2 cups tight packed shredded arugula leaves, stems removed

salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Homemade vegetable stock

Instructions:
Heat the olive oil in a deep skillet, and add the potato, onion, celery, and garlic. Sauté the veggies until the onions soften, about 5 minutes. Add the apple, lemon juice, stock, booze, and spices. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the agave and arugula and continue simmering until the potatoes are soft, about 10 minutes. Transfer half the soup to a blender and puree, or use an immersion blender to blend in the skillet (don’t overdo it! you want those chunks)





Salt and pepper to taste, and garnish with fresh arugula, fresh thyme, or vegan bacon bits. Revel in the season!

1 tablespoon cooking oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large carrot, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 cup peas
1/2 cup spinach

1 cup vegetable broth
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon marjoram
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
a big splash of red table wine

paprika to top

Instructions
Cube the potatoes and place them in a big pot covered with water. Boil until tender and drain. Mash the potatoes with the garlic, nutritional yeast, and alt milk. Set aside.

Heat a large skillet to medium and add the cooking oil. Sauté the garlic, onions, and carrots, until tender. Add the peas and spinach, continuing to sauté. before the veggies brown up too much, pour in the vegetable broth, spices, and soy sauce. Add the nutritional yeast and flour, stirring well, and then reduce over heat until it all thickens up nicely. Finish with a generous splash of red wine, stir, and remove from heat.

In an oiled glass or pyrex dish (I used a bread pan), spread a layer of mashed potatoes on the bottom. Cover with the veggie/sauce mixture, and top with the remaining taters. Sprinkle with paprika.





Cook uncovered for 20-30 minutes, until the potatoes begin to brown. Remove from heat and serve piping hot, either solo or smothered in your favorite gravy.





Dig in! Enjoy! Ohmigod so good I love autumn!!!

In my hometown, Summer Solstice is a great grand affair. There’s a crazy parade with open entry, an annual theme and floats and stilts and bikes and trikes and costumes and ART, everywhere. It draws all kinds of people, and the little ones run wild like tiny face-painted gremlins, while the last of the old hippie enclave strip to their skivvies and dance around like big body-painted bohemians. What a party!

Imagine my surprise when I realized that this was just a regional thing. Or maybe just an aged hippie thing (big ups to all my parents!)  Most people, in fact, do not even celebrate the longest day of the year. What a shame! 

This year, we kicked off the first day of summer with our first official BBQ. I wanted to try something different, and decided to dust off that old bottle of mezcal.  Mezcal is related to tequila, but is derived from various agave plants. Tequila is solely a product of Blue Agave. But mezcal has a distinctly smokey flavor, and it’s amazing and smooth and mild and it makes a totally mean margarita. I absolutely adore this liquor, and I brought back as much as I could from my honeymoon in Mexico!

With it’s seriously smokey flavor, mezcal just seems suited for grilling. And what better way to offset the the intensity of agave liquor, than the sweetness of agave syrup? The result was perfect synergy.

That there drink is a watermelon daiquiri, also highly recommended!

Ingredients:

2 pineapples – carved, cubed, and skewed

1 cup mezcal

1/2 cup agave

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Instructions:

First things first, make a mezcal margarita.

Next, soak ~15 bamboo skewers, an hour at least, so they won’t burn on the grill.

Combine the mezcal, agave, vanilla, and cinnamon in a glass jar with a lid. Shakey shakey shakey (it helps to do a little dance). 

Construct the skewers and then a few hours before grilling, drizzle them liberally with the mezcal mixture. [I assembled the skewers and the marinade separately the day before, and then did the drizzle the next morning]

Grill those suckers! Braise them frequently and rotate as well. Try to use up all of that mezcal mixture. They’re done when they darken and soften, but you should taste them to test. Keep tasting. Mmmm, yeah. Taste MORE!

And have another mezcal margarita. To summer!

#2  If there’s two things I love, it’s wine and recycling!  Sound random?  Well I don’t know about you, but I’ve been saving my wine corks for a while now, waiting to find some creative repurposing that’ll keep them from going to waste.  Now, I seem to have found my answer.

Yemm & Hart is an organization focused on salvage innovation, and they want your corks!  Currently in the collection phase, once they accrue 6 tons of corks they will begin converting them into retail floor tiles.  All cork donors will receive a discount on the finished product – plus a sense of relief regarding all their boozy by-products!

Read all about the project here, or just take my word for it and send your corks to: Wine Cork Recycling, Yemm & Hart Ltd., 610 S. Chamber Drive, Fredericktown, MO, 63645.

BONZAI!

Wait, seriously?  Seriously??!  Why, in the name of all that is good, would you ever have want or need for a veganized version of that crazy concoction?

Well celebration, of course!  Regional and ritualistic foods are critical to our cultural traditions, our religious ceremonies, and our most important festivals.  They are often where we turn first for nostalgic ‘comfort foods’, and unfortunately, they usually contain animals.  So it’s pretty safe to assume, if ever there’s a peculiar cultural staple, a veganized version exists.  After all, the children of immigrants do want to carry on their family’s heritage – albeit in their own modified and modernized way. 

And thus I present: a vegan Haggis.  This traditional Scottish dish (I doubt even the Scots would dare call it a delicacy) is made from a mixture of oatmeal and organ meats, spiced with ginger, cloves, and nutmeg.  I actually had the occasion of sampling Haggis back in my omni days, while attending a conference in Glasgow, Scotland:

2006 - Haggis and High Tea at the Willow Tea Room

Haggis has many functions in Scottish culture, including the starring role of the Burns Night celebration.  A Burns Supper is held in honor of Scotland’s greatest poet, Robert Burns, most often on the night of his birthday – January 25th.  However, a Burns Supper is not restricted to this date, and parties are held at random (blame the Whiskey) throughout the year.  So get to celebrating!

The supper itself is a long and intricate ritual involving multiple incantations and recitations, an official ‘Entrance of the Haggis’ (accompanied by bagpipes), a formal ‘Addressing of the Haggis’ (an 8-stanza poem that is read to the dish itself), and absolutely ridiculous amounts of whiskey.  Here is a more thorough account of a customary Burns Supper.

This was my first attempt at a vegan Haggis, which I adapted from this recipe.  Haggis is most frequently served with bashed neeps and tatties (that’s mashed turnips and mashed potatoes, served separately) and a generous dram (that’s Scotch whiskey, of course).  Here, I plated these stacked high, Haggis over tatties over neeps, finished with a sweet creamy whiskey reduction, and skirted with wilted kale.  This meal came out wonderfully – better than I remember authentic Haggis tasting – and it makes me look forward to hosting a large and proper Burns Night celebration next year. 

Haggis Ingredients:

1/2 cup steelcut oatmeal

2/3 cup lentils (any color will do)

1 large onion, finely chopped

3 carrots, grated and then chopped

2 stalks celery, finely diced

1 tablespoon canola oil

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/8 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cayenne

1/8 teaspoon cardamon

1 tablespoon soy sauce

One can of Cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

2 cloves of garlic, finely minced

Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
Well before you are ready to begin cooking, place the oatmeal in a bowl and cover it with boiling water. Let it soak for at least an hour, (it can go much longer if you need). Drain all the water later, when you use the oatmeal.

When you are ready to begin cooking, boil 4 cups of water in a saucepan.  Add the lentils and continue to boil, 20 minutes or so, stirring occasionally (watch the water level!). While the lentils are boiling, chop all those veggies.  When the lentils are soft, rinse them and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375º F. In a large pan, sauté the onion, celery, and carrots in canola oil, until they are soft. Add the spices, the soy sauce, the cooked lentils and about a quarter of the Canellini’s.  Stir to mix thoroughly and turn of the heat.

Either by machine (food processor or blender) or by hand (potato smasher) purée the rest of the Canellini’s to form a thick paste (you may need to add some liquid). Then, fold this into the lentil and vegetable mixture, along with the soaked oats and the garlic. Mix well and add salt and pepper to taste.

Scoop your Haggis into a casserole dish and bake it, uncovered, for 30 to 40 minutes.

Sweet Creamy Whiskey Reduction Ingredients:

1 cup Scotch whiskey

3/4 cup almond or rice milk (avoid   soy – it may curdle with liquor)

1/4 cup agave syrup

salt and fresh-ground pepper (white would be nice), a dash of each

Instructions:

In a small saucepan, get the Scotch to simmering and reduce by about half. Then add the milk and agave, stirring and simmering until it thickens up a bit (it will not get super thick).  Add your salt and pepper, and drizzle over Haggis just before serving. 

Bashed Neeps and Tatties:

Bashed Neeps and Tatties are just mashed potatoes, which I’m sure you know how to prepare (boil and then mash with vegan butter and vegan milk), and mashed turnips (which are made the exact same way).  Keep them separate, and serve them side by side or underneath your vegan Haggis.

Happy Burns-ing, and don’t forget to cross off #4 on The Vegan’s Hundred!