Having Our Cake and Eating It, Too

Yesterday I baked a Vegan Vanilla Cake and it was divine! I used

Ener-G Egg Replacer, Earth Balance margarine, and soy milk in place of the usual dairy components, and I reduced the amount of sugar from 1-3/4 cups to 1-1/4 cups. I used brown sugar after reading that some white sugar is whitened using bones. The frosting was made with dairy-free bittersweet chocolate, margarine, and powdered sugar. It was wonderful but a bit too sweet, so next time I'll use unsweetened chocolate. And yes, I did get the covered cake stand I mentioned in an earlier post. Found it at a flea market after scouring two huge antique malls. This one dates back to the 60's, said the vendor, and is in perfect shape. The price was right, too, $25. As I said before

in this blog, I am a firm believer in buying gently used items over new in many cases, giving something a new home by recycling it. I had been unable to find a cake stand I liked that had a dome, except for a brand new one for $40 at a major import retailer. Knowing where it originated, I wasn't ready to settle for that one.

My recent baking frenzy has been fueled by the awesome new mixer we got for my birthday last month, and it too was recycled, being factory refurbished rather than factory new, and none the worse for that plus lots cheaper.

So on it goes, learning a little more everyday and making changes in my life that really fit.

Today I sent friends an email with a link to this blog and featuring a story that appeared as a vegetarian headline on Healthy Eating Healthy Planet's right sidebar, The Only Diet for a Peacemaker is a Vegetarian Diet. I hope you'll take the time to click on the link and read it. I have been gaining so much information I can use through reading the news stories via the links my headline service puts on this blog every day.

In addition to paying attention to what I eat, I try to take time to enjoy the beauty of nature every day. Last weekend I took this photo on my nature walk. Brown-Eyed Susans.

Love,

Nature Maven

Food For Thought

Good morning! Here I am at Day 12 of my vegetarian lifestyle, and I continue to gather information, Food for Thought, if you will. Today I found on the blog Green Options the following guidelines for buying produce:

Certain produce, termed the "Dirty Dozen" by the Environmental Working Group, is so highly sprayed with toxic chemicals that, many experts recommend eating them only when they’re organic. These include:
Apples
Cherries
Grapes, imported (Chile)
Nectarines
Peaches
Pears
Raspberries
Strawberries
Bell peppers
Celery
Potatoes
Spinach

The U.S. Department of Agriculture found that even after washing, some fruits and vegetables consistently carry much higher levels of pesticide residue than others. The produce you can get away with purchasing as non-organic includes:

Bananas (though I do recommend purchasing "Fair Trade" bananas)
Kiwi
Mangos
Papaya
Pineapples
Asparagus
Avocado
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Corn
Onions
Peas

Right now we're struggling in the US with the tomato salmonella scare, and I saw a news story on MSNBC suggesting buying local and organic, especially until the source of this scourge is known and understood.

UPDATE: Today the weather was ominous with rain and thunderstorms so we visited a nearby antique mall to scout out a cake stand. We only found a few with domes, and only one in clear glass that wasn't a stellar enough example of the type worth shelling out good money for. This brings me to the ecological value of recycling things found in antique malls, thrift stores and fleamarkets or at garage, yard or stoop sales rather than heading to the stores for a brand new item that usually has a lot less character and quality. Not to mention that most new housewares are made somewhere far away with questionable safety and labor practices.

Martha Stewart Living has a great story on collecting glass cake stands ("Over the Top: Food domes uncover the history of dining through the centuries") in the July 2008 issue.

After baking an organic chocolate cake for our family birthday gathering this weekend, I decided we need just such an item. Having a mission when antiquing makes it all much more fun. Maybe next week...