Miss E sleeps over (and has a birthday)

Last Friday, our little granddaughter had her first sleepover at our house. She's used to spending time with us so when she arrived in the late afternoon, she removed her shoes and socks, and settled right into a comfy chair with a bowl of popcorn and a good book. (Little did she know that the book she was "reading" — an old favorite of mine called "Mr. Gumpy's Outing" — had once belonged to her Papa.)

For supper I made mac & cheeze with quinoa pasta and We Can't Say It's Cheese Cheddar Spread. After mixing the hot, cooked noodles and cheese in a baking dish, I sprinkled it with Parma and baked it briefly. I served it with a stirfry of silken tofu, shiitake mushrooms and broccoli seasoned with the miso topping from our recent Japanese cooking class. We also had salad with dijon dressing and seasoned croutons (tester recipes). The photo is of my plate. Miss E has her meals in a collection of small, unbreakable bowls. You know, just in case. She's a brilliant and beautiful girl but her table manners are ... undeveloped. Although she does say "please," as in "more mushrooms, please. More croutons, please. More broccoli, please."

Miss E was excited to come stay with us but I don't think she really quite understood the concept of "overnight." As she was getting ready for bed, she expressed the desire to go home, but I cheered her up with thoughts of waking up in the morning to have breakfast with us. "Would you like pancakes?" I asked her with sincere enthusiasm. We were good to go after that. So, in the morning I made pancakes with agave syrup, and I have to say they were delicious. I didn't use a recipe but the whole-grain cakes came out light and delicious. I added rice vinegar to the non-dairy milk and a bit of baking soda to the mix to approximate buttermilk pancakes. Miss E enjoyed her 'cakes with a side of organic grapes and a glass of almond milk.

After Miss E went home, I got to work making cakes for her two-year birthday on Sunday. She was born on Valentine's Day, and her parents had a party planned for about 30 adults and kids. I made two cakes — my standard chocolate cake with bittersweet frosting, and an almond-lime cake with rosemary-lime glaze that I was testing for Mihl of Seitan is My Motor. Because it was Valentine's Day, I made the chocolate cake in a heart-shaped pan. I split it into two layers, filled it with raspberry jam, and frosted it. The almond-lime cake was baked in a 12-cup Nordic Ware bundt pan that I was amazed to find at Goodwill for $2.99.* I really wanted a 6-cup pan but secondhand shoppers don't often have the luxury of choice.

Poppa Ken (A.K.A Grandpa holds the cake)

The party was a great success with lots of eating, talking, painting, a real bubble machine(!), shaving cream and other amusements. When it came time to add cake to the celebration, Miss E got a little overwhelmed. With all the guests belting out Happy Birthday, little Miss E didn't know where in that gaggle of legs to look. She did, however, thoroughly enjoy her cake, after the singing ended.

For her present, we gave Miss E a YogaKids DVD, a book about yoga and her very own yoga mat. She's fascinated with yoga and can do quite a few poses. She also received a pair of pink socks with hearts because, after all, her birthday is on Valentine's Day!

* While I was bopping around the net looking for info on bundt pans, I came across this handy hint for making cakes easy to remove from the pan. Grease the pan with a mixture of equal parts shortening (I used Earth Balance), flour and oil. One teaspoon of each should be more than enough. Don't use so much that you end up with white spots on your cake. It also said to set the pan on a steaming hot, wet towel in the sink for 10 seconds just after you remove it from the oven, then invert the pan over a cooling rack and the cake should come right out. I didn't want to end up with a big, wet towel so I put a small amount of hot water in the sink, set the pan in there for 10 seconds, and voila! The cake came right out.

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Etc.

This is a potato and beet salad my son made (and photographed for me) for the birthday party. The recipe is from "The Urban Vegan Cookbook." There was also an aioli from the cookbook that I didn't photograph.

Below are a bunch of tester recipes for Celine and Joni's upcoming cookbook.

Creamy Dijon dressing and seasoned croutons

Quiche

Quiche slice on a plate

Parmesan sprinkles

Western bacon cheeseburger

Seitan bowl — possibly our favorite recipe so far.