Chick O'fucking Stick Chocolate Chip Cookies

Embarassingly out of cocoa powder?  Grind up some Chick O Sticks!

My friend Katie Jayne was in town this past weekend for some vegan pub crawl shenanigans.  Since it was her birthday the weekend before, I decided to bake her a little something special.  While I was at Fred Meyer on an errand, I thought "What can I put in her cookies to make them awesome, since she's so awesome"????? 

Walking past the candy aisle, inspiration hit.  Later that night, Ms. Strawberryrock got to stirring, I got to throwing things in the bowl, and Chick O Stick chocolate chip cookies were born.

If you haven't had this candy before (I hadn't before moving to Portland) - think vegan, think the inside of a freaking Butterfinger bar, think coconut, think picking it out of your teeth but it's still worth it, good.  Both Voodoo and Sweetpea feature treats made with this candy - check out glorious Sweetpea layer cake Kt from Sweetpea made for my birthday last year!

The birth process:

Chick O'Fucking Stick Chocolate Chip Cookies

Adapted from the holy Veganomicon, by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Romero

2.5-3 cups flour

2/3 cup ground Chick-O-Stick candies (approximately two whole sticks, I ground them in my Magic Bullet)

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

2/3 cups canola oil

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 teaspoons ground flax seeds

1 spoonful creamy peanut butter

1/2 cup soy milk

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

½ cup to 3/4 cups chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a large bowl sift together flour, baking soda and salt.

In a separate large bowl mix together oil and sugar. Add the flax, peanut butter, soy milk and vanilla and mix well. 

Fold in the dry ingredients in batches. Use a wooden spoon or your mixer to incorporate the ground Chick o Sticks.  Add more flavor if needed.  Add the chocolate chips gently.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and flatten into a disc that's about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet about an inch apart.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes, then set them on a wire rack to cool completely.  

**In reality we should have added a little more flour - so just add more till the dough looks right, duh.**

The proud mixer

Me and Katie Jayne!

Sure, the cookies have melted down candy in them, but that makes them awesome!

Whiffies pies, dinners, friends, riceballs

Do you see what is photographed below?  It is a mini, deep fried, apple pie.  I can't believe I've been eating quite healthy the past few weeks, and yet, those words are being typed, that those words were experienced!  The Whiffies deep fried pie cart opened up at SE 12th and SE Hawthorne (walking distance from my apartment!) last weekend by Potato Champion!, and Ms. Strawberryrock and myself just happened to walk by during their first evening.  It was a soft opening and poor us, only the vegan fruit pies were being offered.  My apple pie was hot, flaky and filled with small chunks of apples and delicious apple ooze.  That's right.

Vegan apple pie

We sat outside the cart and enjoyed the late night liveliness around us.  There was a DJ cart for pete's sake.  Of course, afterwards I felt a little...deep fried, and I knew this wasn't something that could be a frequent indulgence from the get go, but I liked it.  I would have died had there been a drizzle of icing, so it's probably best there wasn't.  I've been immersed in focused greens consumption to preparation for trying their new savory vegan chicken pot pies and, in the future, they're supposed to have vegan fried chicken seitan.  Come on.  

Whiffies on twitter.

SE 12th carts.  The fries at PC! are the best, 

and the Creperie *just* started offering a vegan crepe!

DJ...cart...

The new Whiffies cart

Since I'm already skipping the final NYC food porn post til next week, let's continue onto more food in PDX I've enjoyed & created.  Daylight! photos! gasp!

The jdfunks burrito

I'm not quite sure how it happened, but I was in the mood for a burrito, and that is rare.  I'm really a crispy person.  Me + texture = great friends.  This tortilla held lightly seasoned short grain brown rice, baby spinach, smoky pinto spread, hot sauce, homemade almond cheeze (based on the recipe from Real Food Daily) and noochy breaded seitan. 

Seitan sausage, garlic, mushrooms & collards

This dinner features two types of homemade steamed sausages, both of the spicy variety.  One was based on Isa's Chorizo in Vegan Brunch and the other from Artful Vegan.

Hodge podge meal including the dish above, a leftover tamale from Paula of Semicircular Vegan, brown rice, smoky pinto dip, etc. etc. etc.  She brought them to a party I threw last weekend with a sub-theme of late 1990s WB shows I watched and it was a super fun time! I can't even begin to describe how productive cutting out Buffy and Felicity quotes made me feel.

Yesterday I stopped by the Eastbank Farmers Market for goodies including basil, Hot Lips black raspberry soda and one of Toddbott's rice triangles.  One my my favorite stands, no question.  

Follow Get Sconed! on twitter!

NYC Food Porn #2, another Get Sconed! Travel Post

Welcome to the second Spring 2009 NYC Food Porn Post!  The first one is here.  I'm specifically labelling it spring because there's always the hope I'll visit my siblings again this winter before the year is up. Actually, it's their turn to visit, hint hint!

Spread of Dim Sum featuring Amanda's hand.

My first and last sit sit down meals on this trip were at Vegetarian Dim Sum House.  I used to go here during my college years since it was a)vegetarian! and b)so close to the bus stop! but I didn't fall in love with their cheap, expansive dim sum menu until I moved to Portland, silly jess.  I went twice on my vacation last spring as well.  On day one, it was not only my first meal of the trip, but my first meal of the day after the bus from Boston.  Between my sister, her boyfriend Mike, and myself, I think three orders of the Roasted Pork buns were eaten!  It's their favorite, and of course I'm a fan.  My other favorite dim sum are the spinach dumplings and Chinese kale rice rolls, but gelatinous blocks of grey can attest, I'll try anything there.  My last meal of the trip was with my friends from the PPK, Amanda and Gory, heart! 

Treasure balls

Pineapple Chicken entree

The entrees here are on the pricey side.  Jenny and Mike wanted fruity chicken after seeing the Mango Chicken on our first visit.  This chicken is actually tofu wrapped in yuba.  It was tender and soaked up the sauce - and they ate it, but it really confused them and my sister noted how she's tried every type of fake chicken there is, and she's never had anything like this.

Classic spring rolls - classic, and spring rolly.

Steamed sesame buns.  Sweetness.  I've tried these fried, and prefer the steamed.

Steamed Spinach Dumplings

Next top on this photo tour, to Teany!  Co-founded by musician Moby (who I saw there once a few years ago!), it's a vegetarian tea house with some sandwiches and a bunch of Vegan Treats desserts.  It's where I fell into the sweet embrace of Teanychinos - my trip featured three visits, two teanychinos, two shared slices of cake, and a pot of Smoked Russian Black tea.

Earl Grey Teanychino 

Exterior

Red Velvet Cake - 

we gave my sister the flower, because you know, younger sisters have that natural right.

Carrot cake

They exist!  Here's Jenny, my sister, and Mike, looking like two cool cats in their leather jackets, waiting for the subway. They're the best.

My brother, Rick, the perpetual smirker.

Rivington Street - we hit up Economy Candy for...candy.

Little Italy 

Pommes Frites - 

I gotta say, Potato Champion! kicks their ass, as fun as a late night stop here with my crew was.  I'm not complaining, just pointing this out!  PC's fries are just tastier.  I do like Pommes' peanut sauce more, however, but that's because PC's sauce is loaded with fresh cilantro.

Frites and peanut sauce - brings me back to my semester in the Netherlands... 

We also continued our tradition of hitting up Milon, 

one of the intensely festive Indian restaurant on 1st ave.  

Daytime:

And inside the restaurant, come nightfall:

The last stop on today's recollection is Buddha Bodai in Chinatown for more fulfillment of my vegan chinese cravings.  aka - painful to look at now in the future.  I've never been during the afternoon dim sum hours, but I have cherished their entrees and appetizers.  Fried noodles smothered in sauce and sauteed, flavorful veggies?  Yes!  Vacation indulgence!!

General Tso's - 

My sister's pick.  She's had it before - and gone without me! and my brother told her, conveniently while I was in the bathroom, that this was the best General Tso's he's ever had, even with his fake meat issues.

Pan fried dumplings - again, filled with flavorful vegetables!

Buddha's Delight Pan Fried Noodles.  

What I described above.  It may not look like much, but I could eat this for days.  Buddha's also has a lunch special that's a great deal.

Okay - come back for pizza and to moan over vegan ice cream with Bazu, Panda & myself!

NYC: a Get Sconed! Vegan Food Porn Post.

My arrival to NYC last month was reminiscent of so many trips home I'd taken in college, via Fung Wah bus from Boston.  The last time I'd taken that bus on vacation, I was more hungover than I'd ever been in my life.  It's been four years, and I still don't have any wish to drink or even smell gin again.  

This time, I napped, and had a pleasant, quick trip with no traffic.  

There was no fire on the bus (I know there are crazy incidences with this bus line, but I've had a bigger issue with Greyhound breaking down outside of NYC on the highway and taking 4 hours to send a replacement bus.  I started taking the Fung Wah when it was just a small shuttle!) and my sister was shocked at how early I was.  With that, let us enter the first part of my NYC rambles....

Chinatown, NYC.

About me

I make a point of travelling to New York at least once a year to see my family and get my fix of East Coast life.  I cherish the visits to my sister, brother and grandparents.  We grew up on the South Shore of Long Island, but both of my siblings are currently in the Queens area.  Both of my parents grew up in Brooklyn and moved out to the island as teenagers with their families. Suffice to say, I used to have a thick New York accent.  Years in Boston and a degree in Speech Communication later, I wiped most of it off but it comes out on special occasions.  My siblings, particularly my brother, still tawk like there's no tomorrow. My friend Maria and I are convinced that my sister will be cast on a reality show one day as the bitchy, beautiful New Yorker, probably on Survivor.

Toasted Poppyseed Bagel.  Tofu Cream Cheeeze.  Bagelsmith.

This brings me to my list!

Things I really miss about NY:

My siblings

My grandparents

Bagels

Falafel 

Vegan Chinese food!!

Winter snow

Rainstorms 

friends!

The PPKers

tall buildings

Cheap. Great. Falafel.

This one's from Mamoun's.  I went twice.  $2.50.  

The tomatoes sucked and I didn't even care.

Oasis Falafel.  This puppy (yum?) has pickles and cabbage, holla. This is my friend Lisa from Panda with Cookie's favorite, too!

Bedford Ave.

Another thing I miss - is the faux chicken dishes you can get at Vegetarian Paradise 2, Red Bamboo and the owners' newest venture, Soy & Sake.  I would always insist on meeting friends and family for lunch or dinner at the first two when I was in town from Boston.  

Chicken and Veggie Tempura

Not only did I visit this newish restaurant twice, I made sure that tempura was ordered twice. Lightly battered delish.

Brace your eyes for this one -

Buffalo Chicken with ranch dip

I'd never had fake buffalo chicken before, and I honestly can't remember ever eating the real thing.  I was grossed out by meat and messy foods at a very young age.  This was predictably sweet and spicy and again, delish.  My siblings dug it and my brother was somewhat disturbed that I was enjoying it.  He's omnivorous but one of those people who can't stand the term "faux meat".  When I describe things as soy protein, he's more easy going.

My brother's favorite - Lettuce wraps.  

I wasn't into the mass of green onions in these, but the pine nut addition is cool.

The first time we went, I decided on the grilled Bourbon Chicken sushi roll, and was misheard. Poor me, the massive Bourbon Chicken plate was delivered:

Even taking in the boring steamed veggies, it was great. 

 I quickly stir fried my leftovers with garlic the next night for dinner.

My sister's Bento box:

Mike's General Tso's dinner

Exterior

Although it was a staple when I was in college, I didn't find myself drinking any Dunkin Donuts while in NYC.  I only had a couple lattes - the best being this one from Kaffe 1668.

Hmm, I suppose I didn't porn the desserts yet!  

Or a visit to Buddha Bodai, or two to Vegetarian Dim Sum House, or PIZZA.....stay tuned, pretty please.

It's Coming.

Cinnamon Raisin Cookie Ice Cream from Stogo

The NYC food porn post.  Coming next, really.