make something day: ginger brown ale

The day after Thanksgiving is Black Friday, a day in which stores hype up the x-mas shopping season and crazy shoppers wake up super early to stand in long lines and catch some "deals". Eric and I do not participate. In fact, we are so good at breaking traditions that it is nice to sometimes create new traditions. Established alternatives to Black Friday include Buy Nothing Day and Make Something Day so we decided to make something!

For our first annual beer brewing extravaganza on Make Something Day, we made a ginger brown ale which includes cinnamon, cloves and orange peel. Mmmmm... Looking forward to this one!

pumpkin swirl brownies

Happy Thanksgiving! Perhaps these vegan pumpkin swirl brownies will satisfy your sweet tooth? I followed the recipe on Eating Appalachia.

pickle soup

I am 100% polish american. When I visit family in Milwaukee, I usually end up going out for a meal at a polish restaurant. As a vegetarian this usually leaves me to choose from eating potato pancakes or pierogi. I am quite content with this situation but one polish restaurant I went to had pickle soup and I was totally thrilled. Seriously, who thinks up pickle soup?! Ah my ancestry...

Ingredients:
onions, potatoes, pickles, veggie broth, sour cream, fresh dill

Cook the onion in oil until transluscent. Add the potatoes, pickles, and veggie broth. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer for 20 minutes. Blend. Temper sour cream and mix it in. Add some fresh dill.

raw gingerbread men

I know, I know, it's a little early to be talking about holiday cookies but ever since the stores started stocking holiday treats a week ago (eggnog, candy canes, holiday chocolates) I've been craving gingerbread men. I felt a little played by the system so I figured I would satisfy my gingerbread craving in a nonstandard way - with raw gingerbread men.

In a food processor, I blended up almonds, dates, honey, oil, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and a pinch of salt. Then I rolled out the mixture and shaped some raw treats!

***side note: I am exploring raw food preparation because it is an entertaining change of pace with different flavors and textures. On a whole, I personally will stick to my rice and beans (and local, seasonal fruits and vegetable) diet because I think it is more affordable, practical, and ethical. From what I can tell, raw foodists rely on a lot of nuts ($$) and non-seasonal produce.