Reflecting on 2010 and a vegan cookie recipe

Merry Christmas!


25 December 2010: Photo - a present to yourself. Sift through all the photos of you from the past year. Choose one that best captures you; either who you are, or who you strive to be. Find the shot of you that is worth a thousand words. Share the image, who shot it, where, and what it best reveals about you.

Brad Paisley Concert. July 23rd 2010. @ Blossom.


Started my day without going to work (woo!) taking a yoga class, spending time with my friends by the pool. It probably hit about 90 degrees that day. There was tailgating, jello shots galore, lots of pickup trucks and confederate flags were flying. 


As with most country concerts, there were about 7 different people performing, we made it in to the venue in time to see Darius Rucker, someone who I don't know, and then Brad came out. Not three minutes into his set, black, ominous clouds rolled in and the skies opened up. I think three of us (Brandon, Tanja and I) attempted to stay dry underneath a poncho for about 5 minutes before we decided that it just wasn't worth it. Maybe we could make it through one more song? Nope.


It was coming down so hard it wasn't even worth trying to stay dry. We just needed to make it out of Blossom before the parking lot became a swimming pool and no one could leave. This picture was taking on the mile-long hike back to the parking lot. 


In this moment, I was absolutely free of any care, worry, doubt...I was just in it. Completely in the moment. In the zone. There was absolutely nothing we could do about all that rain, so we just went with it. 






Now, onto the cookie recipe. I got home and realized that we didn't have any butter or eggs so I veganized it with some pumpkin and "chia eggs". I also didn't have the oats I though were in the pantry, so I subbed some crushed nuts. The pumpkin gives it a bit of a different taste, but they're just as delicious as the original. The mesquite flour is definitely the ticket for these cookies, it gives them a flavor that nothing else in the world (that I can possibly imagine) would give. You can find mesquite flour on amazon, as I found it impossible to find in ANY store.

Mesquite Chocolate Chip Cookies

About 45 cookies

Adapted from Super Natural Cooking (Ten Speed) by Heidi Swanson

2½ cups (330 g) flour
1 cup (160 g) mesquite flour
1 teaspoon aluminum-free baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
8 ounces (220 g) pumpkin puree
1 cup (400 g) natural cane sugar
3 chia eggs (1 chia egg = 1tbsp chia seeds + 3tbsp warm water)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups (230 g) various crushed nuts (almonds, pecans, walnuts, etc.)
2 cups (360 g) chocolate chips

Two baking sheets covered with parchment paper or lined with silicone baking mats. Preheat the oven to 375F (190C).

1. In a bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

2. With an electric mixer, beat pumpkin puree and sugar until creamy. 

3. Add the chia eggs until completely incorporated, then the vanilla.

4. Add the flour mixture in three batches, incorporating it as you go.

5. Mix in the nuts and chocolate chips. The dough is quite stiff at this point and if you’re not using a powerful standing electric mixer, you may wish to roll up your sleeves and use your hands, like I did.

6. Drop mounds, about two tablespoons of dough each, evenly-spaced onto the baking sheet.

7. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until just beginning to set. Err on the underbaked side, I usually go for 10 minutes.

Here’s a tip to help keep chocolate chip cookies moist when they cool: When you pull the cookies out of the oven, take a spatula and tap the top of each cookie once, very lightly, to flatten any peaks and level them.

Then let them cool as usual for the moistest, chewiest chocolate chip cookies imaginable!

and a few more pictures from my wonderful Christmas staycation: