cheesecake deviants: do's, dont's, & disasters

this post is a supplement to the cheesecake post on common variations of this recipe. there are several companies here in pdx that make and sell these types of cheesecakes. my pal ben works for freshly wild making amazing cake incarnations from mint marble to maca turtle trails. this is a pic from camilia's blog of one of ben's gnache cakes.

cheesecake - the best part is the crust

okay so these two post are for amanda and a couple other people that have asked me about this recipe.

basic cheesecake fill

!!!make the crust first(above)!!!

there are two basic base recipes for vegan cheesecake. the soy version w/ toffuti cream cheese (hydrogenated oils), soy, sugar, and all the other vegan junk food favorites. we're not doing that here because, well, i think its kinda gross. the way to make this happen is to use a cashew base. the basic recipe is as follows:

2 cups soaked cashew (soaked in h2o for two hrs, rinsed, & strained)
3/4 cup lemon juice
3/4 cup coconut oil
3/4 cup agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla
tiny pinch of sea salt

step 1(optional): gently warm coconut oil to its melting point (70degreesF or so) until its completely liquid. usually i just leave it around a warm spot like the stove top for an hour. the reason for this? emulsifying the mixture in the blender makes this recipe come out better, especially if you add fruit ingredients like blueberry or cherries.

step 2: pour cashews, lemon juice, vanilla, & touch of salt into the blender and blend. pour in agave as the mixture is blends. slowly pour liquefied coconut oil to emulsify mixture. if youre in a hurry and the coconut oil is still solid you can scoop it out and it will break down quickly with the movement and heat of the blended - the mixture will be a little less smooth and its harder to accurately measure this way. if youre making it at home, it'll be fine.

once the mixture is smooth, taste & adjust lemon and sweetness as needed. then pour the mixture over frozen crust in spring form tin, cover with cling form, and set level in the freezer to set for several hours.

once the mixture has set, place in refrigeration for an hour or so, cut, and serve!

the cheesecakes pictured below are black forest which is a personal fav' of mine w/ this recipe. check the above post for deviations on this recipe.

now ill never get into stansberry...

so i havent posted for a while. unfortunately my toshiba stopped booting up so now i have to get the hard drive copied as that computer has all my pictures, music, life, ect from the last eight years. i do have some stuff saved online and on my external hard drive so im gonna throw that up here for the few of you who do randomly read this (im looking at you benj:) i got a descent amount of food and work pictures/stories to share. viva oso!

what would vegan gordon ramsay do?

first he would play a game of touch w/ the mates.


then he'd want something fresh. i bet he'd love a fresh ole fashioned apple greens juice... mmm, made to order. this is what i do to keep myself in spirit things while on the juicing station. i figure we'd need fresh washington apples in a big display like hot dog on a stick does with lemonade. but we reverse the demographic from which they hire by placing buff dudes with vegan body-building shirts, little hats, and striped aprons in the window juicing apples.


a blossoming lotus surprise - aka a blo-lo house suicide made w/ apple, beet, pineapple, cucumber, ginger. i experimented with foam consistency for taste as well as contrast to make some barista inspired foam designs this summer. the apple greens above was one of my first regular attempts. now i have simpler looking single leaf (ill post another pic when i get one). this lotus was really hard to make; i have a pattern for it but and i mess it up about four out of every five times.

the key is to be able to make these fast. in the summer i can have six apple green tickets up at once plus 5 or so other juices. when this happens i tend to make them four or five at a time w/ pre cut apples and a 6qt. container. w/ beets you can pre-juice. kale, as the green, however, seems to oxidize shortly after juicing so that has to be done after the lemon, ginger, and most of the apples. big kale leaves give dark green juice but its not the juice machine friend. the lid popped off twice on me this summer. im hoping that, with proper care of the juicer, ill be able to speed through juices while maintaining the quality of taste and presentation.

my favorite drink: this is what id give g.r. if he came in after the match.

almond banana w/ maca

two frozen banana
1 - 2 spoonfulls of almond butter
2 tbls maca powder
1 tbls cocoa nibs
1 tbls hemp protein (optional)
hemp or rice mylk
a touch maple syrup

blend cocoa nibs smooth first. add banana, maca, almond butter, and fill blender with hemp mylk up to the 500ml mark. blend till banana is blended completely. add touch of maple to taste. enough for a tasting and one 16oz drink.

our new tv boy friend

kitchen nightmares is our new obsession. its a peak in reality television (tudou.com or hulu.com). unlike hells kitchen, where the emphasis is mainly on chefs competing, ramsey's blunt and harsh critiques serve as the basis in creating something new and ultimately friendly.
best moment so far was gordon's face when being shown 'unduck' and 'unfish' at a 'healthy' restaurant on le brea ave. this is the only episode where ramsey acknowledges vegan food because all the dishes had a vegan version. and as such, i was surprised by his brief but acute analysis in relation to fake meat:

you're not teaching people to eat healthy, you're teaching them to find the fridge.

i think this hits at the bizare oscillation i see in vegans between health-of-body and politics&thought, as well as, the big question generating natty foods: what legitimates something as healthy?

anyways how hip is gordy here? god save the queen

you're the one for me fatty!

I feel a need to take a break from by lost binge I have been on for 3 days now and vent. I went shopping this weekend with a friend and was overwhelmed by my old feelings of inadequacies I once had as a teenager. I am a self identified feminist and try to make my feminisms inclusive of body politics. Some people are in awe when I say this or very confused. At times people believe I am speaking of some kind of "sexual liberation" feminism so I then have to rephrase it and say, "I am fat positive!" Let me tell you though, the world outside my door is not. I grew up on the punk side and always browsed the Goodwill and the Salvation Army for my attire. I have gone through phases where I desired to mirror a little old lady or a mod. Inevitably though, I end up with nothing. I would sometimes come up at the Goodwill but rarely ever at the "hip" thrift stores like Buffalo Exchange. Now you see, Buffalo exchange and other stores like it are geared towards cool kids. Let me tell you, cool kids are not fat or even chubby. If you want to find old vintage cutie dresses or hand me down forever21 gear then you need not apply because they aren't going to have your size. Just recently Buffalo exchange started carrying size 12 jeans and sometimes 14 or even dare shall I say it...16!!! Chubby girls want to look hot too ya know. We don't want to be stuck only looking in the shoe and bag section while their skinny friends tear apart the clothing racks with so many items found, they can't even hold 'em. We want the cheap style too. Which leads me to my next irritation. I have had friends/lovers say "if I were you I would just learn how to make that stuff!" Like it is that easy. Not that it isn't a fabulous idea but honestly, I am not a creative seamstress. I can sew up pants and put some patches on a hoody but as far as patterns go-it is a nightmare! Why do chubby girls have to be the creative ones and make their own clothing? My next grievance is skinny friends refusing to acknowledge their privelages and act as if it is normal and there is nothing they can do about it. First off, if shopping is your favorite past time I can understand why we wouldn't connect in the first place. but if we are friends like so many of you have been then what is the deal? My skinny friends have always acted like I have a chip on my shoulder and am guilt tripping them and ruining their good time. Come on! Why is fat discrimination the politically correct discrimination? People treat us like the world treats transients and the homeless "they got themselves there, they can get themselves out if they cared or had enough will power." Bullshit! I have skinny friends who eat way more than I do and eat shittier foods than I do. I come up on my veggies every day, do you? Anyways, I guess I just want to start a dialogue about feminism and body politics again. I want feminists to engage about being fat and being skinny and what that provides for you in society or takes away from you. I want my friends and fellow bloggers to acknolodge fat discrimination as a valid opression and analyze how they incorporate it into their own lives.

Love,
Monica a.k.a. belly full of soup.