There was definitely no need for icing on these. I just liked to focus on the doughy-ness and there was no lack of sugar what-so-ever.


Okay so this is the chocolate-marshmallow PB fudge I bought from Maresa that I was telling you about.

So I was just walking around Pine Box, just checking out the shop-up, minding my own business when all of a sudden I had this box of 10 macarons, a huge block of fudge, 2 rainbow cookies and a turtle bar. And it was all down-hill from there...


I took a quick break from chocolate to make this dish from Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen, called Rosemary Lentils with Roasted Tomatoes and Garlicky Broccoli, a dish I probably never would have picked out on my own because it has no pasta in it. Alex actually picked this dish, and I'm so glad he did, because this was so good and flavorful! Roasted tomatoes are one of the wonders of this world.


Everything all together worked so well and I loved it! The lentils have curry powder in them too, so it's kind of not Italian at all, but still good. I'm not technically Italian either, although my last name says otherwise. I'm just KZ from the Earth, and this recipe was Dope AF.


Then some days you have like NO ideas about what you want to eat at all, despite your 74 cookbooks and documents with detailed categories of recipes to make with the book and page number. Does that ever happen to you? You've let yourself get so hungry that nothing sounds good enough to make? On nights like this I usually just end up cooking whatever odds and ends are left in the fridge, which is often tofu, green beans, and some boxed rice thing that Alex for some reason keeps buying. This particular night, I made a balsamic reduction for the green beans but it kind of slipped off them and pooled at the bottom of the bowl.. But you can kind of see the little balsamic dots!


So I started following Kathy Patalsky 's blog, and bought her cookbook, Happy Healthy Vegan Kitchen and I of course already have 365 Vegan Smoothies which I really need to glue the pages back in because they are all falling out due to overuse, and came across her Matcha Guide. I had tried her Secret Ingredient Matcha Shake from the book but reallllly didn't like the matcha and then realized everyone in the world loves matcha but me. I started to wonder if I just had some bad matcha, or maybe matcha expires? It turns out, yes, matcha certainly expires, and despite it's high price tag, has a short shelf life. She says matcha is best to be used up within one month of purchasing and also matcha that is a bright spring green tastes the best. My matcha was several years old, and a dull army green. No wonder I didn't like it. I decided to give it another shot. I followed her instructions to buy matcha that specifies that it is organic, from Japan, Ceremonial Grade, and costs no less that $1 per gram. I did as I was told and the matcha is pretty good! I have made some smoothies with it, and even tried to make a latte, but I find that I don't like the taste of hot almond milk when I heat it on my stove. I don't usually buy soy milk, but I had this Matcha Soy Latte at COFFEED and it was super good with no weird aftertaste at all, the way it was when I heated my own almond milk at home. I am always looking for new alternatives to coffee, I get so bored with coffee all the time. Maybe matcha will be my new thing :))


I made Xmas cookies again this year! I picked easier or less complicated cookies than last year since I knew I had only one day to bake. This plate is full of the Almond Biscotti from Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen! I love them so much! They were much easier to make than the other biscotti I made, and tasted just as good too. They weren't totally uniform, but as long as there's a glob of chocolate dipped in almonds on there, nobody is going to complain to you.


These are my favorite classic cookies to make around Christmas time, the Starry Shortbread Fudge cookies from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. I had zero problems with my dough this year, and they all came out beautifully with no casualties! Everyone I gave a box to said that these were their favorite :)


These were a new-to-me recipe that I always admired but never made, the Linzertorte cookies, also from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. I never have hazelnuts, and never want to buy them because I was under the impression that they are expensive and need to be peeled. But they weren't any more expensive than any of the other nuts I buy and none of my hazelnut recipes required peeling, so I was pretty stoked on these. They are nice little delicate cookies with a little dollop of raspberry jam in the middle, rolled in chopped hazelnuts -- my idea of a perfect cookie. Plus they look really pretty!


I know I already have one biscotti cookie, but I know my dad really like gingerbread biscotti so I made these basically for him. I also bought a ton of vegan white chocolate chips online that I didn't end up using so this recipe helped me deplete my stash. It's not that this is a difficult recipe, it's just really time-consuming. These cookies are super festive and great for any ginger-bread-lover in your life.

Snowball cookies! Snow? You know that thing that we have not been having?? At least there was snow on my cookies. These are from Chloe's Vegan Italian Kitchen and are actually called Italian Wedding Cookies, and not snowball cookies, but they taste the same which is delicious. These are a crowd-pleaser, too, as well as easy to make.


Last but not least, these are the Chewy Molasses cookies from Chloe's Vegan Desserts, which I decided to make at the last minute, to take the place of Alex's beloved snickerdoodle. These are actually snickerdoodles with molasses. They were amazing.


Look at my beautiful festive plate of cookies!!
Alex was whining that I didn't make him any kinds that he likes, then proceeded to eat two of each. Boys, right?!?

I hope everyone had a very festive Xmas and have a happy New Year too! I will follow up with my obligatory New Years Post tomorrow! See all you cats next year!
<3
KZ