relaxation in the kitchen

I decided to stay home from choir practice tonight because I don't want to share this yukky cough with anyone, (particularly the older folks in my choir,) because my voice is shot from talking with/at children all day long and from coughing, and also because I'm just plain exhausted. I figured I needed to take some time for myself and relax a little bit, especially since I haven't been sleeping all that well this week. (Oliver keeps jumping on me in the middle of the night. I think he is cold and wants to paw his way under the covers . . . I'm going to try putting the heating pad in his usual "spot" tonight and see if that keeps him out of my hair!)

So, I got home from work, made myself some dinner, ate, and thought about watching a movie. And then I thought harder about baking cookies. Crazy? Perhaps. But baking has always been very relaxing for me. Cookies it was.

Vegan Snickerdoodles! SOOOOOO delicious, and possibly one of the best vegan cookies I've ever made. Recipe:

Cream together:
1 cup Earth Balance (at room temperature)
1 1/2 cups natural granulated sugar

Whip until foamy, then stir in:
1 tablespoon Ener-G
4 tablespoons water

Whisk together, then stir in:
2 3/4 cups flour (I used a mix of AP, whole-wheat pastry, and spelt)
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Roll the dough into balls, then coat with cinnamon-sugar. Bake on parchment-lined cookie sheets at 400 for about 8 minutes. (If your oven is lousy like mine, make sure to rotate your sheets front-to-back halfway through the baking time.)