tweety - I'll photocopy that recipe for the winter.  To me minestrone just isn't summer foodz, but I want to make at least one recipe from EDBV at some point as I had to pay a whole NZ$2 to get the book from the library.  It's not all fail though....when i was checking out whether they had EDBV I found they had Vegan on the Cheap and Party Vegan and they both have recipes I definitely want to try.

I can get books out from any of the Wellington Libraries but if I want to pick it up from a library where its not held I have to pay a dollar, and there's a dollar charge for the reserve too.  Hmm, not sure if that's clear.

Party Vegan was at a library that would have been may 20 or 30 mins drive away, so I opted to pick it up from the one next to my work - so they charged me a dollar for that.  I don't mind because it means I don't have to drive to the far away library and I probably wouldn't have been able to get there during it's opening hours anyways.

Yeah the Wellington libraries have got tons of vegan cook book but they're always checked out - which is why I don't mind paying to reserve the items.

1000VR

creamy, crunchy fruit and nut sandwiches - a fun twist on your standard PB and J sandwich.  My version had peanut butter, maple syrup, raisins, pecans, and apple slices.  The end result was not really all that different from a normal PB sandwich, but a little more exciting.

spiced apple pancakes - these were great.  i didn't peel my apples, needed more maple syrup, and i just left the topping to stay warm on the stove while the pancakes were cooking.  I ended up using pumpkin pie spice mix for the spices since I didn't have a separate allspice.  It's a very forgiving (and yummy) recipe. 

http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q188/thirteenblackbirds/spicedapplepancakes_1000VR.jpg

JOVB-sugar cookies
I've tried this recipe twice, and both times wound up with a bazillion crumbles and no cohesive dough. I follow the directions to the T, but I'm giving up on it. Boo.

Vegan Table-Apricot Whole Wheat Muffins
Yay! I used AP flour for the ww pastry flour, so they were half whole wheat muffins, but yay! They rose beautifully, had a nice crumb, not too moist like some vegan muffins. Everyone gobbbled them up. I plan on using this as a muffin base from now on. Love.

Vegan Lunch Box-caponata sandwiches
These were so great! Easy to throw together, low fat/cal, and super tasty! This is a good way to get eggplant into people who say they don't like eggplant, as it doesn't have that chewy texture. I'd totally serve this to guests, maybe over pasta w/ greens.

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k397/amymylove/100_6364.jpg

VWAV's Carrot Raisin Muffins. These turned out pretty good and I got 2 extra muffins out of the recipe. I thought these could be a bit sweeter (never mind i just ate another one), my brother thought they were fantastic. I give this recipe 4 out of 5 stars.

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k397/amymylove/100_6384.jpg

I then proceeded to make VWAV's Curried Split Pea Soup and this was a winner! First time cooking with split peas and this turned out great, thank God.

http://i325.photobucket.com/albums/k397/amymylove/100_6391.jpg

I also made VWAV's BBQ Pomegranate Tofu and it turned out alright. I left off the pomegranate seed topping cause that just seemed like a pain in the ass to do. The texture of the baked tofu was awesome but again, another BBQ sauce recipe from this book that just didn't tickle my fancy, too tomato-ey and sweet, and way too much for this recipe! I say you could easily half the BBQ sauce meant to bake the tofu in, I didn't even put the full amount on the tofu and ended up scraping the sauce off. It was way too much! Not a complete fail, but I won't be making this again. Though I will use her tofu baking technique: 2 tablespoons oil + 1 tablespoon Braggs, cut the tofu into 8 pieces, place tofu in the oil and Braggs mixture until completely coated, bake at 350 F for 30 minutes, turn over after 15, and add sauce and bake an additional 15 minutes. Perfect texture!

VWAV's Lemon Gem Cupcakes. These were an epic fail for me but I do admit, I really suck at making desserts and baking. First off, the cupcakes didn't rise much and ended up sinking once they got out of the oven. No big deal right? I will just cover them with the frosting. I go to make the frosting, another epic fail. I used EB buttery sticks for the recipe and something went wrong and I had to maybe double the powdered sugar and it was still runny and now way too sweet. Next fail, the cupcakes stuck to the liners. I was pissed, I ate a few, and threw the rest away :(

VT - Sweet potato stir fry

http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipes/8625?section=

This was pretty good. Ordinarily sweet potatoes aren't something I'd associate with Asian food, but this works.  I did not use the broccolini because it was too expensive.  I used regular bok choy from my CSA rather than baby bok choy.  It was too greasy and I even cut back on the oil.  A total of 7 tbs of oil is too much.  Also I didn't have 4 tbs of mirin, but only two and that was plenty as the sweet potatoes are sweet enough without a lot of mirin.  More would have been to sweet for me.  I used Thai chili for heat instead of crushed red pepper.

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/183029_1640589253432_1197836956_31404277_3312467_n.jpg

HIAV- dijon scalloped potatoes
definitely comfort-foody, but I have had better. The sauce didn't really soak down into the other layers, so the top was really flavorful, but the rest needed salt. Not bad, though.

VT-morroccan meatballs and couscous
pretty good. My husband loved it and said it tasted like BBQ. I did add some cumin, because it was too sweet for me w/o it. It was better after it sat a bit and the flavors married. Really easy, I'd prob. make it again.