Still, not a complete loss because I managed to figure it out and come up with a recipe for Key Lime cookies after surfing around VegWeb.com to see where I went wrong the first time. Yup. I started with chocolate and ended up with lime. Go figure.

KEY LIME COOKIES -

3 tablespoons extra firm silken tofu, mashed with a fork or pureed with
blender/processor
1/2 cup vegan butter
3 teaspoon lime juice
1/2 cup sugar
1 and 1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Cream margarine and sugar for about 5 minutes until fluffy.

Add mashed tofu and vanilla. Mix well.

Sift the flour, baking powder and salt into the mixture.

Roll out and cut into fun and funky shapes or make little balls and flatten them down onto an ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for around 10 minutes in 350 degree oven.

VANILLA GLAZE -

1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon plain soy milk
1 teaspoon canola oil
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup powdered sugar

Over low heat, warm soymilk, oil and vanilla.  Remove from heat and add powdered sugar.  If you need it thicker, add a bit more powdered sugar.  Pour glaze over cake or other dessert immediately.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Christmas 2009, the first Christmas on my own. The best decorations you can find at Wal*Mart.

No, the camera wasn’t tilting when I took the picture of the candles, my bar is actually slanted. It’s odd and unnerving. I’m scared to place any round food stuffs on the bar in case they go rolling off onto the floor. The Nutcrackers were lifted (liberated if you want to know the truth) from my mom. And I’ve always said if I had to have a faux tree anywhere it would look nothing like a real tree.

Tomorrow I’m going to start experimenting with cookie recipes for the Boat Parade/ACC Championship Game and Christmas parties we have planed to give/attend back in Fruit Cove. Also, I think I’ve figured out how to turn Mom’s egg casserole into a veg friendly breakfast dish. Thank God for VegWeb.com! Pictures, recipes and stories about what a mess I made will be coming forthwith.

This is probably the coolest thing I’ve bought all year. Big Kenny (of Big & Rich) released a version of his new solo album in biodegradable materials and included wildflower seeds embedded in the packaging. Apparently you bury the CD case under a few inches of topsoil, add some water and viola! Flowers! How cool is that? I tell ya, if I wasn’t already half in love with Big Kenny this would have sealed the deal for sure. I’m a sucker for guys who don’t just say they want to make the Earth a better (prettier!) place but actually do something about it. I blame my high school friends and our group obsession with John Lennon and the Beatles. And Julie G’s Grateful Dead albums providing a vaguely psychedelic soundtrack to bits of  my childhood. It melded so fabulously with the Southern rock, Country, Classic rock, Metal and Punk I listen to.

Listening to: Big Kenny • The Quiet Times of a Rock and Roll Farm Boy ♦  Reading: In Shadowside by Elizabeth Ashe  ♦  Watching: Jeff Dunham’s Very Special Christmas Special