"It's like vegan Thanksgiving!"

(a direct quote from Dan the Man last night, upon initial inspection of what we were having for dinner.)

First off, I made an apple pie yesterday afternoon. I love making pie -- it's a long process, but it's so darn much FUN! (Yes, I'm a nerd.) I made my great-grandma Agnes Donahe's pie crust recipe, and then filled it with peeled, sliced, Granny Smith apples, mixed with cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and flour. I know that I've told you all about my love affair with pie in the past, so I'll spare you a retelling. Photos are better anyhow:

I had a piece last night, as did Dan, (the man who hates all dessert except for pie and gummy candy,) and I had another piece for breakfast this morning. Three cheers for pie!

Now, on to the taters. Aren't they cute?

I had never heard of buttercream potatoes before, so I decided to give them a try. Holy yumminess, Batman! I quartered and boiled the 2 pounds of potatoes pictured above (that's a cereal bowl they are spilling out of -- aren't they cute?) with four cloves of garlic. Once the taters slid off a fork when pierced, I drained and mashed them (and the garlic) with a little bit of butter and a little bit of rice milk, salted and peppered them, and then folded in some chopped parsley. I haven't made mashed potatoes in a LONG time, and we both enjoyed them very much.

AND, I made Punk Rock Chickpea Gravy for the first time! Upon initial review of the recipe, I decided I would make one major change, which was pureeing the gravy with my stick blender, instead of leaving it chunky. I thought the gravy had a slightly unusual flavor on its own, but when spilled over the potatoes, it was fabulous! I only made half a recipe and had a TON of gravy leftover, (even with two pounds of taters,) which I stuck in the freezer to use another day. Next time, I may use a little less tamari, because I found the soy flavor slightly overpowering -- I may substitute a little miso, or just plain ol' salt. We shall see.

For our main course, I chopped up a bunch of veggies with my new knife, (sweet potato, onion, fennel, zucchini, and red pepper,) tossed them with some cubed tofu, extra-virgin olive oil, minced garlic, salt, pepper, and fresh herbs (fennel fronds, parsley, thyme, and rosemary,) and roasted them in a 425 degree oven for about 45 minutes. This yielded enough dinner for Dan and I, plus leftovers for both of us for lunch today. Me, being the hungry moron I was, forgot to take a picture of my plate last night! So, you get a photo of leftovers . . . sorry!

(The gravy did kind of congeal in the fridge overnight, but I assume it will loosen up once rewarmed.) You can kind of see the potatoes peeking out underneath the mountain of gravy over there on the right, can't you?

I may make "Swiss Chard with Chickpeas and Couscous" for lunch today, and save my leftovers from last night for work lunch one day later this week. Off to job search now . . . wish me luck!