Wednesday I hosted a cookie exchange party at my house. It was the first time I've had a group of friends over. Originally, about 16 people were going to participate but with the awful weather (that didn't end up really affecting my neighborhood but affected the SW strongly) there were just 6. We had a great time, though, and there were just enough places for all of us to sit and the big dish of macaroni and cheese I made was enough for everyone to share.
A close-up of the cookies: chocolate peanut butter bees, coffee shortbread, matcha mint, sesame flax, ginger, pfeffernusser, and chocolate mint.
As for the macaroni and cheese, I made it a new way this time, which has been my favorite (and cheapest!) I made a batch of almond ricotta using the cashew ricotta recipe from Veganomicon, but with 8 oz of tofu instead of 1 lb so there's a higher proportion of almonds and garlic to tofu.
Chop 1 large onion finely and sauteed it in olive oil until very soft and caramelized. Add 1 cup of soymilk, a bit of "chicken" bullion, and a bunch of spices (tabasco, black peper, sage, nutmeg, salt, basil, and thyme) and heat it until it's simmering for about 5 minutes.
Pour into a bowl and mix in 1/2 C nutritional yeast and 1 big squirt of yellow mustard. Whisk with whisk or fork until smooth and creamy. Add in the ricotta and a few TB of olive oil and mix until smooth.
Mix the cheese into 1 lb of cooked pasta, add 2 cups of thawed frozen peas (optional but very tasty!) and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes with foil on top until hot and steamy. I drizzled a bit more olive oil and soymilk over the top before baking it so that it didn't dry out at all.
This was definitely my tastiest mac n cheese so far and I will be making it again this weekend as we have relatives visiting!
As for the macaroni and cheese, I made it a new way this time, which has been my favorite (and cheapest!) I made a batch of almond ricotta using the cashew ricotta recipe from Veganomicon, but with 8 oz of tofu instead of 1 lb so there's a higher proportion of almonds and garlic to tofu.
Chop 1 large onion finely and sauteed it in olive oil until very soft and caramelized. Add 1 cup of soymilk, a bit of "chicken" bullion, and a bunch of spices (tabasco, black peper, sage, nutmeg, salt, basil, and thyme) and heat it until it's simmering for about 5 minutes.
Pour into a bowl and mix in 1/2 C nutritional yeast and 1 big squirt of yellow mustard. Whisk with whisk or fork until smooth and creamy. Add in the ricotta and a few TB of olive oil and mix until smooth.
Mix the cheese into 1 lb of cooked pasta, add 2 cups of thawed frozen peas (optional but very tasty!) and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes with foil on top until hot and steamy. I drizzled a bit more olive oil and soymilk over the top before baking it so that it didn't dry out at all.
This was definitely my tastiest mac n cheese so far and I will be making it again this weekend as we have relatives visiting!
Oh what fun, and all of those cookies sound amazing!
Posted by: Hannah | December 21, 2008 at 10:17 AM
Thanks for hosting! It was fun and tasty! I'll have to try your mac & cheese recipe.
Posted by: kimmykokonut | December 22, 2008 at 06:41 PM