Cookie Contest Winner, 2009 Veggie Awards, & a Cornbread Burger Bun recipe!

Please head over to my new blog at TheUrbanHousewife.com, where you'll find this post & more!

A week has passed & many entries for the Bountiful Vegan Intention Cookie giveaway have come in. The answers have ranged from the funny, "my cookie name would be Wesley Snipes", to the more serious, "..I would be Ahimsa (non-violence), as that is my guiding principle.", to the downright delicious, "I'd be a sustainability cookie! It would be a renewable cookie that you never finished"! I had a great time reading all the answers! Thank you for the entries, but the moment of truth is here! The randomly selected winner is...karaxcupcake who said, "I'd be an Ants in the Pants cookie. Would most likely contain caffeine.". Congratulations Kara! Please email me melisser AT theurbanhousewife.com to claim your prize!

In other news, voting for the 2009 Veggie Awards by VegNews Magazine is here! I am honored to say I have been nominated for "Favorite Blog" alongside some excellent bloggers, & of course, there are many deserving people who were not nominated. VegNews ups the ante with the voting by making it so you can win awesome prizes by completing at least 50% of the survey. I found it easy to vote with friends like Isa Chandra Moskowitz, Terry Hope Romero, Chicago Soydairy, & more being nominated, but even if you just want to vote for little old me on page 5 of the survey, I won't be mad at ya!

It's been awhile since I've posted a recipe, but inspiration struck a few weeks ago & I thought I would share it with you. We love cornbread & homemade burger buns around here, so why not combine the two & make a Cornbread Burger Bun? This is definitely a cross between a fluffy burger bun & cornbread, so don't go expecting it to be a rounded version of traditional cornbread. While I used a stand mixer, all steps can be done by hand as well.

Cornbread Buns
Ingredients:
1/2 cup warm water
1 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour, divided
1 cup all-purpose flour, divided
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup cornmeal
2 tbsp Earth Balance, melted (oil also works, but changes the flavor slightly)
2 tbsp agave nectar
1/2 cup corn, fresh or frozen
2 tbsp coarse cornmeal (optional)

Instructions:
Combine the water & yeast, gently stir, & set aside for 5 to 10 minutes, or until the yeast forms a foamy layer on top of the water.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 1/2 cup of the whole wheat pastry flour & 1/2 cup of the all-purpose flour.

Add the yeast mixture & mix with the dough hook attachment on low speed until combined.

Add the salt, cornmeal, melted Earth Balance, agave nectar, & corn, continue mixing on medium-low speed until combined.

With the mixer running, add the remaining 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour & 1/2 cup of the all-purpose flour. Continue mixing until you have a slightly sticky dough that pulls away from the sides of bowl.

Let the mixer knead the dough for about 1 minute, then transfer the dough to a large bowl.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap, then with a dish towel & leave it to rise in a warm place until it has doubled (about 2 hours).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat & sprinkle with coarse cornmeal, if using.

Turn the dough out onto a work surface & knead for a few seconds, then divide the dough into 6 balls to make the rolls.

Cover the rolls with a kitchen towel & leave them to rise a second time for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, or until they puff up noticeably.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Bake for 20 to 25, switching the positions of the baking sheets halfway through.

Remove the buns from oven when rolls are golden on top, browned on the bottom & sound hollow when tapped on the base.

Let them cool on a wire rack for a bit, then slice them open & enjoy!

These would be great with homemade veggie burgers, but we kept the Southern theme going & filled them with black eyed peas & tender Collards Greens with tomatoes! While the recipe may seem time consuming, it's a very hands off process & a great Sunday afternoon project. The recipe yields 6, but could easily be doubled, as they freeze well! I hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

OnlineShoes.com Contest Winner, new flavors from Purely Decadent, & a new blog!

Please head over to my new blog at TheUrbanHousewife.com, where you'll find this post & more!

The recent contest for the OnlineShoes.com giveaway was a smashing success! Closing at 150 comments & many tales of the infamous jellies shoes of the 80's, I am glad I let Random.org do the decision making! Without further ado, the winner of the $100 gift certificate to OnlineShoes.com is..
#22- mamafabun, aka Honor! Here's what she had to say..
"Worst shoes? Hand-me-down cowboy boots that were about four sizes too big. I had to wear them to school one day because my other shoes were missing. Oh I was teased."
This is just one of the crazy stories contained in the comments, I encourage you all to go read the entries & have a laugh!

I recently had the chance to try some of the new ice cream flavors from Purely Decadent, which is just one of the many treats made by dairy free darlings, Turtle Mountain. Packed in a cooler filled with dry ice, 5 pints arrived on my doorstep, ready to be consumed. I decided to take them to share with my friends over at Vegansaurus.com, so we could all partake in the fun of taste testing!

Dark & creamy Belgian Chocolate, tangy Key Lime Pie, sweet & fruity Blueberry Cheesecake, cinnamon laced Snickerdoodle, & a coconut milk based Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough were all devoured & discussed by the group. While I favored the soft dough & cinnamon swirls of Snickerdoodle, many preferred the coconut milk concoction, declaring Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough their favorite. One thing that struck most everyone was the Blueberry Cheesecake would have been better received if named differently, as expectations of cheesecake bites were met with only firm crust-like chunks, luckily the blueberry pieces kept us happy.

The great news about many of the new flavors is they take those with allergies in to account. The cookie dough & pie crust additions are gluten free, while the coconut milk flavors are soy free, so no one should feel left out! Speaking of the coconut milk flavors, I recently had the So Delicious Coconut Milk yogurt in Pina Colada & thoroughly enjoyed it! Go try some of the many new products from Turtle Mountain for yourself!


In other news, my 2 lbs of terror, Strummer the chihuahua, appears here from time to time. There's no denying she's a cute one, so to spread the chihuahua cheer, I've created Strummer Calling, a photo & video blog for "The Only Pup That Matters". It won't be heavy on text, but will be drenched in photos & videos for your viewing pleasure. Oh & she's vegan, so technically it's a vegan blog! Check it out at http://strummercalling.blogspot.com/

My Sweet Vegan giveaway results!

Please head over to my new blog at TheUrbanHousewife.com, where you'll find this post & more!

Phew, what a crazy week of comments it has been! With over 100 entries, I'm glad I decided to let random.org choose the winner for the My Sweet Vegan giveaway, rather than deciding myself.

While many of you chose common combinations like peanut butter & chocolate or fruit & chocolate, others came through with unique flavor combinations such as banana & curry, chili & pickle juice, pineapple & turmeric, & multiple people even mentioned peanut butter & pickles! I'm finding myself inspired by the suggestions & may have to use some of them in future kitchen concoctions! I was a bit alarmed to see mentions of items like bacon & cheese on a vegan blog, but that's a story for another time!

So, without further ado, the winner of a copy of My Sweet Vegan by Hannah Kaminsky is..
#30- Bianca! "you can really do no wrong with chocolate but a sourdough acme baguette sliced up and covered in chocolate is totally magical." Here's a screenshot of the random.org selection.

Congratulations Bianca; I'll definitely be trying your flavor combination! Lucky me, I live in the city of Acme Bread & it is a favorite of mine. In fact, I used their Sour Batard tonight to make the "Sweet & Simple French Toast" from My Sweet Vegan & it was delicious! How is that for irony?!

Thank you to everyone for joining in the fun & I hope those of you who weren't selected will buy a copy of My Sweet Vegan today! It's a fun & fabulous book for any dessert lover!