VeganMoFo #18: Fig Bars

Figs are falling from the fig tree. Time to make everything fig-related! Tonight I baked whole wheat fig bars from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. They're a nice, not-too-sweet evening treat.

 Lots of recipes, including this one, call for dried figs, but I've been cheating with fresh ones with no ill effects. I cut off the stems of all the figs, cut them in half, and put them face-down on a parchment paper lined baking sheet (with lip to avoid fig juice spillage). Then I pop them in the oven at 150-200 degrees for a couple hours. They get wrinkly and juicy and discolored. I then chop them up and use them however the recipe says to, omitting some or all of the liquid the recipe calls for as I see fit.

Now I need to find more uses for figs! I think I'll make jam with them next.

VeganMoFo #17: Almond Milk

Continuing on the theme of making things at home that I would normally buy, I whipped up a batch of almond milk today. There's not much to it. Soak a cup of almonds overnight, blend it with three cups of water, strain out the ground almonds. Enjoy almond milk that has just two ingredients.

I like the almond-y aroma. And that the leftover almond meal can be saved to use for something else.

I think I'll use some of the fresh almond milk to make hot cocoa on the woodstove tonight!

VeganMoFo #16: Figgy Apple Hand Pies

And just like that, the weekend's over! It was a busy one. Yesterday was spent in Estacada at Out to Pasture Sanctuary's work day. It was my first, but certainly not last, time there. We arrived a little early so we could get a tour and meet the animals, and then we got to work on pulling nails out of some old lumber so it could be burned without the chance of a horse, llama, or donkey stepping on a nail. The pile of wood we were working on was in the goat pen, so Nellie (one of the goats) kept us company and tried to help. I love that place and all the sweet animals. The caretakers there are who I want to be when I grow up.

Today involved taking advantage of the beautiful weather to get some things done outside. For example, cutting a pile of tree limbs into wood stove size pieces.

Busy weekends need calm finales, so tonight I used figs and apples right from our yard to bake figgy apple hand pies. They're so good! The recipe's from Vegan Pie in the Sky (as usual). They're like warm, appley fig newtons. I was skeptical about being able to eat them with your bare hands, but it works. Look, Ma, no fork!

VeganMoFo #15: Harvest Time

We still haven't seen the end of those apples we picked a couple weeks ago. Tonight I'm making crispy baked apple chips (a la Bare fruit snacks). That involves coring the apples, slicing them as thinly as humanly possible, sprinkling on some cinnamon, and baking them at a low temperature for a couple of hours. The house smells divine.

I also went and picked some finally ripened figs from the tree at my neighbors'. I'm drying them out so I can try the Figgy Apple Hand Pie recipe from Vegan Pie in the Sky.

I love this time of year!