September and apples

September is here! time for apple picking and apple cider doughnuts. Here the recipe I found at www.vegetariantimes.com

Makes 18 mini doughnuts

* 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
* 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
* 1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
* 1/4 tsp. salt
* 1/8 tsp. ground cloves
* 1 cup apple cider
* 1 1/2 tsp. egg replacer, such as Ener-G
* 1/3 cup soymilk
* 5 Tbs. apple butter or applesauce
* 4 Tbs. nonhydrogenated vegan margarine
* 1/2 cup superfine sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Coat doughnut pan with cooking spray.
2. Whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and cloves in large bowl.
3. Bring cider to a boil in small saucepan. Boil 10 minutes, or until liquid is reduced to 1/3 cup; remove from heat. Whisk egg replacer with 2 Tbs. water in small bowl; stir this mixture into cider reduction. Add soymilk, apple butter, and margarine, stirring until margarine is melted. Cool.
4. Stir cider mixture into flour mixture.
5. Fill each doughnut mold half full with batter. Bake 12 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Roll hot doughnuts in superfine sugar.

photo & recipe from www.vegetariantimes.com

Summer ends

Before Summer ends, let us enjoy the last minute of it with summer fruits salad. Here’s one recipe

Serves 8

* 1/3 cup sugar or 1/4 cup agave nectar
* 1/4 cup fresh mint or lemon verbena leaves
* 2 Tbs. lemon or lime juice
* 2 cups seedless grapes, halved
* 2 peaches or nectarines, cut into 11/2-inch pieces
* 1 cup sliced strawberries or whole raspberries
* 1 cup blueberries
1. Bring sugar and 1/2 cup water to a boil in saucepan. Simmer 2 minutes. Remove from heat, and stir in mint and lemon juice. Steep 15 minutes. Strain out mint.
2. Combine grapes, peaches, strawberries, and blueberries in large bowl. Stir in sugar syrup. Cover, and chill 2 hours,
or overnight.

photo & recipe from vegetariantimes.com

Mangosteen

I found an exotic fruit in the market today. This fruit is called Mangosteen which originated in Asia. For more knowledge about it, here’s what I got from wikipedia.com

The mangosteen is a tropical evergreen tree, believed to have originated in the Sunda Islands and the Moluccas. The tree grows from 7 to 25 m (20-80 ft) tall. The rind (exocarp) of the edible fruit is deep reddish purple when ripe. Botanically an aril, the fragrant edible flesh can be described as sweet and tangy, citrusy with peach flavor and texture. Mangosteen is closely related to other edible tropical fruits such as button mangosteen and lemondrop mangosteen. Botanically, it bears no relation to the mango.