Chestnuts Roasting on a Non Stick Surface Pan

When our house guests from Portland came this month, they brought some really large and fresh chestnuts and we roasted them one night while they were here. These are not those chestnuts. These are from Raley's and they were very "picked over". They are fun to roast (probably more fun if you follow the directions in the song) and really yummy when they are fresh from Oregon.

Before we gave up all things dairy and I still baked, when people asked if I wanted persimmons, I said "the baking kind?"
Now I ask, "the eating kind?"  Today our friend Vasile, who works at a Romanian produce store, gave me some free rejects and they were the eating kind. If you slice them horizontally it reveals one of nature's magical wonders.

Orange, Kiwi and Pomegranate Salad

More free food leftovers from the Romanian store, pomegranates. Another favorite of mine, especially since I learned the best way of getting the arils out. Separate them in a bowl of water. That way the juice doesn't squirt all over, the yellow peely stuff floats to the top and the arils sink to the bottom.

Vegan Pumpkin Goop

This can't look too exciting for a regular person, but I have triumphed. I have made pumpkin pie. OK, it's not really a pie. And it's not really pumpkin. More like Squash Surprise. This is from a butternut squash from our garden. After cooking it, I whipped it up, added Egg Replacer, maple syrup, soy milk, spices, vanilla and some whiskey for fun. It is awesome. Now it just needs some Tofu Whipping Cream and I am ready to invite Marie Calandar herself for a bit of vegan pie heaven. Next time, there will be crust.




 This comes under the You Can't Win 'Em All category. I've wanted to make Ernst some savory stuffing, but the boxed ones have oil added. I actually went to Whole Foods today and stood in a long line with the turkey buying public, just to buy my little itty box of sage to make this. Using more free food, I used some bread that had cranberries and walnuts in it already. It just did not want to become savory. It is still fighting. No matter how much salt I add to make this stuff(ing) taste like Stove Top, it won't budge. The Big E says, in the grand scheme of things, it was much more important that the pumpkin thing turned out.

Stubborn Stuffing