Chris and I have been busy keeping Austin fed (one danish, cupcake and cookie at a time). Our bakery blew up so fast. And, we've got the battle scars to prove it. From the oven burns, sprained sore wrists from making danish pastry dough, cuts to smashed fingers. We leave our commercial kitchen looking more and more like injured soldiers. If you're in Austin, stop by Bouldin Creek and check out our stuff.

First things first-
A giveaway! Leave a comment on this post and next week I will pick a winner by drawing a number and choosing that comment!

The winner gets goodies from our vegan bakery! This includes cookies, cake, pastries and more.

About the Queso recipe--
We *temporarily* removed our queso recipe. There's a good reason, though. After a month, we will put it right back where it belongs. We regularly sell our queso (by the gallons) to Bouldin Creek. Also, we are in the process of getting it into a grocery store near YOU. For business reasons, our recipe had to be taken offline while we complete that process. Good news is, it's not too far off and the recipe will be back soon! Believe it or not, the queso you'll be able to buy (from us) online and at your local grocer is an even more delicious/amazing version of our original queso!!

We have a few major announcements this month and the beginning of next month. You know how much we love surprising announcements! Very much! So there's that. Also, I'll have more time to blog. Recipes are coming!

Good luck on the giveaway!
Start commenting!
Don't forget to include your email address.

Adios.

If you aren't familiar with this drink, it's your lucky day. In South Texas, Mexican restaurants serve horchatas regularly. Wonder why? It has a one-of-a-kind flavor, it's simple to make and nothing is more refreshing than this.

An horchata (or-CHA -tah) is a drink traditionally made of rice, cinnamon, vanilla and milk. Complete with the spicy comfort similar to chai, but creamy/sweet flavor found in rice pudding...all in a drink. There are very few recipes online, and everyone makes it differently although the taste is always the same.

I was pleased when suddenly I remembered this drink and Chris quickly chimed in. We looked for recipes online. Most recipes soak rice overnight, drain, and blend with other ingredients before straining over ice. I have a phobia about using raw rice in anything. Oh, and I also hate for waiting for anything. I'm impatient, what can I say?

We wrote our own recipe using cooked rice. Now, there's no wait! We're pleased that using cooked rice doesn't compromise the flavor. In fact, it might just be creamier. Pour over ice (my favorite) or serve it hot. In California, some bars will make a drink consisting of 2 parts horchata and 1 part coconut rum. This makes 2 servings.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup White Rice, cooked
• 4 cups Soymilk, rice milk or water
• 1/2 cup Sugar
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla
• 1 teaspoon Cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook rice.
2. Add cooked rice and soymilk to blender.
3. Blend for 1 minute.
4. Add sugar, vanilla, and cinnamon.
5. Blend for 1 more minute.
6. Strain mixture through cheesecloth or strainer.
7. Serve over ice or enjoy warm!

TIP: Instead of tossing your strained rice, make Rice Pudding! Simply add cinnamon, sugar and whatever else sounds good. I recommend chocolate or bananas. Yum!

You know I kind of had something prepared to write in the event that we didn't win ApartmentTherapy.com's Homie award for Best Home Cooking blog of 2008.

Now that it's here, I'm not sure what to say... Because we won!Obviously this was no cakewalk. Smitten Kitchen was always 5 votes ahead or behind me and the whole thing was really too close for comfort. That's when all of my readers, family and friends stepped in and voted for Vegan Explosion like crazy. As my first offical blog award, I feel as though I'm watching my small child bring home the honor roll ribbon or something. I had no idea people liked this blog, but I have a feeling a lot has to do with my queso. I am pretty sure I'm buying a new server with the prize money, by the way. So, Thanks.

To show our apppreciation to everyone who spent the time voting and supporting this homegrown blog (there were around 123 of you), I am hosting Vegan Explosion's First Ever Giveaway! (though, it should be called a "giveback").

Look for it right here next week. The prize will be lots and lots of sugary goodness made my myself with my top secret bakery recipes. Keep your eyes peeled.

Thanks for winning this one for us guys. This one's for my vegan "homies"for putting veganism out there.::sprinkles nutritional yeast on the ground::

I know I've gained a few readers. To my new readers, I hope I can encourage you to get out of your comfort zones and try a new vegan meal a week. Even small movements like that add up to make a big difference.

Now, moving on. My oven is back to normal and it's time to get back in the kitchen!

(AKA Pecan Sand Tarts AKA Russian Tea Cakes)

My boyfriend just can't refuse anything containing walnuts, pecans, cashews, almonds (you get the idea...). I can't really stand them, but we're definitely on the same page when it comes to these perfectly buttery, powdery cookies.

These cookies have many names. To me, they're Mexican wedding cookies or sand tarts. My mom would make these in the winter and I was pretty sure Chris would appreciate coming home to a plate full of these. I wasn't really in the cookie-making mood, so I put the idea off for a few days. After making them, I felt silly for waiting so long. They are so effortless and take such a short amount of time to prepare. In fact, you might get the urge to make a few batches.

Not only are they easy to make, but they are seriously addicting. A bite into one of these powdery beauties reminds me of butter pecan ice cream. It's creamy with chunks of pecan and a buttery cookie brings it all together. Really though, there's no way I could describe the taste.

I love that they look so rustic. Each cookie is hand-shaped, baked, rolled in powdered sugar, cooled and rolled in powdered sugar once more. Shape these in circles, balls or crescents; just make them small because they're delicate little devils. Enjoy! You probably have all of these ingredients in your kitchen, so get to it.

INGREDIENTS

• 6 oz Pecan Pieces
• 6 Tablespoons vegan Sugar
• 2 sticks vegan Margarine, at room temp
• 1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 2 Cups Flour
• 1/2 Teaspoon Salt
• Powdered Sugar, for rolling

Makes 20 cookies

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325 F
2. Mix flour and salt (no need to sift), set aside
3. In another bowl, combine sugar 4 Tablespoons sugar and vegan margarine. (until fluffy)
4. Mix 2 Tablespoons sugar and pecans, set aside
5. Add-in vanilla, flour/salt mix and nut mix.
6. Mix for 1 minute.
7. Make 1 " circles, balls, crescents (all about 1 Tablespoon of dough) and place them on a cookie sheet
8. Bake for 10-11 minutes. (parchment paper makes things fool-proof)
9. Individually move each cookie from the cookie sheet into a bowl of powdered sugar. Once it's completely coated, carefully transfer it to a cooling rack. Do this to all cookies. Once all cookies have cooled, roll each one in powdered sugar once more.

These can store up to 5 days in a sealed container. No need to refridgerate, unless you live in extremely warm climate.

Several months ago, while browsing the produce section of our local grocer, Chris and I ran into an old friend. We told him about our bakery and food blog, and immediately he tells us that we must make avocado pie. I'm sure we made some sort of face at the idea and moved along. Even for avocado lovers...an avocado pie sounds weird. The other day, I was thinking of something to make. Out of nowhere, I recall a voice saying "make avocado pie". I looked up all of the recipes for avocado pie (there's like a handful, none of them are vegan) and decided what my next move was going to be. This is a recipe that you'll love. It's veganized and tested, tweaked and carefully created to blow your taste buds right off of your tongue.

Let me talk about the flavor while my taste buds are still buzzing. This tastes a lot like kiwi, believe it or not. The texture is like a cheesecake, but it isn't one at all. It's light, refreshing and very smooth. Its flavor can be likened to avocado, lime juice, cream cheese, a small amount of sugar and sweetened condensed soy milk. Did I mention you don't even have to turn your oven on for this?

PIE INGREDIENTS

• 1 Graham Cracker Crust (avoid premade, recipe below)
• 2 Large Ripe Avocados (pitted, peeled and pureed)
• 1/2 Cup Fresh Lime Juice
• 1 Tablespoon Agar Powder
• 5 Ounces sweetened condensed soy milk (see recipe below)
• 1/3 Cup Vegan Cream Cheese

• 20 Graham Crackers
• 3/4 Cup Vegan Margerine (Do NOT melt.)

• 3/4 Cup Better Than Milk Soy Powder
• 3/4 Cup Water
• 6 Tablespoons Vegan Margerine
• 1 1/2 Cups Sugar
• 1/8 Teaspoon Salt

GRAHAM CRACKER CRUST DIRECTIONS

1. Crumble graham crackers (food processor is the best for this).
2. In a mixing bowl, use a fork or your fingers to mix margerine with graham cracker crumbs.
3. In a pie dish/pan, use your hands to form a graham cracker crust.
4. Set aside until pie filling is ready to be poured into your pie crust.

1. Mix water and soy milk powder.
2. Boil or microwave on high for 1.5 minutes. Set aside.
3. In a separate pan on the stove, melt margerine on MED-HI.
4. Once it's melted, add sugar to melted margarine. Whisk immediately to incorporate. You don't need to worry about "cooking" the sugar. The texture should be fluffy and powdery.
5. Immediately, add hot soymilk mixture and salt to the margerine/sugar mixture.
6. Gently Boil for 5 minutes.
7. Cool until ready to use (I usually stick mine in the freezer for a minute to cool quickly)
8. The recipe makes much more than you need for the pie so expect to have extra.

1. Puree avocado (I like to turn ON my food processor as I drop-in the avocado pieces, to avoid avocado chunks in the puree)
2. While the food processor is still smoothing the avocados, add-in vegan cream cheese.
3. Once they are completely combined, turn OFF the food processor.
4. Juice your limes and bring the lime juice to a gentle boil on your stovetop.
5. Once boiling, REMOVE from heat and ADD agar powder. QUICKLY whisk the agar into the lime juice.
6. Once the thickened lime juice is a little cooler, turn ON your food processor again (it still has the avocado and cream cheese mixture in it) and add-in your thickened lime juice.
7. Finally, get your cooled sweetened condensed soymilk and ADD (ONLY 5 OUNCES) to the food processor with the other ingredients.
8. Once it's completely incorperated, turn OFF your food processor.

1. Pour avocado pie filling into graham cracker crust.
2. Chill overnight.

It's yummy as is. If you're really treating yourself, add some chocolate sauce, vegan whipped cream, shaved chocolate and graham cracker crumbs. And, take a seat.