Vegan MoFo Day 20: Grandpa's birthday

My grandpa Herman's 85th birthday was last weekend, and I got to meet up with my family at my grandparents' house in Sonoma for some birthday fun! Kelly couldn't come sadly, but you know how art school midterms are (i.e., hellish).

My grandma and my mom gave me a ton of produce, including these gorgeous granny smith apples from grandma's orchard.

I also scored tomatoes, kale, swiss chard, golden delicious apples, butternut squash, a few last zucchini and summer squash, two little green bell peppers, carrots, beets, and lemons! My family is awesome. I'll have to take pictures of their gardens next time I get a chance. Both are a force to be reckoned with!

My cousin Michelle was nice enough to make a vegan dessert for us: red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting! Unfortunately, during assembly there were some, er, technical issues which involved it sliding.





Hence, Sad Cake is sad.

It still tasted REALLY good though! You can read more about it and see some awesome pictures at her blog here. Incidentally, the cake mix she used (and substituted silken tofu for the egg) was Duncan Hines, which has 12 dairy-free cake mixes! (As long as you sub something for the egg you're supposed to add.) She also used Pillsbury's cream cheese frosting which, somehow, I don't understand but somehow, is vegan! So if you're ever hankering for baked goods but are in a hurry, you might want to try one of the mixes out.

I wanted to make Grandpa cookies for his birthday, but they couldn't be too crunchy or nutty. I was flicking through My Sweet Vegan for ideas when I came across the Pfeffernüsse:





(Sorry for the crappy photo, I was running late!)

Grandpa is German, so I figured these would be perfect! No whole or chunky nuts, but with almond meal, flavored with anise, and covered in powdered sugar! I tested four one, and man are they delicious! A little crispy on the outside, softish on the inside, a little spicey, and that sugar coating is the perfect finish. They're a perfect snack for a tea party (or to snarf down while studying and drinking cup after cup of your caffeinated beverage of choice!). JP and an omni coworker also confirmed that they are delicious. They're my favorite recipe from the book so far!