Siblings Cook – National Siblings Day

In honor of National Siblings Day, I want to share a little bit about my amazing siblings – and they can cook!

Family is important to us – We are close and actually enjoy each other’s company! I would post a picture, but both of them have requested not to put their pictures out here –

My sister is the oldest of our siblings (I’m the middle child). She is fun to be with; she is kind and cares about other people; And she makes the best vegetarian and vegan dishes – so good even my carnivore husband likes it!

My brother is the youngest. I call him my little brother but he’s over 6 feet tall! He is smart; he loves to be out in nature hiking and simply being; he is our personal weather man (and he’s usually pretty dead on); He his kind and generous and cares about people; and he can bake! He’s the dessert man at family gatherings and his creations are so delicious!

Below are the recipes my siblings created and are sharing with you. (Printable versions are at the very end) A vegan main dish and cookies for dessert. I hope you enjoy them – and thank you Mike and Linda for these great recipes!

—————————————————————————————————–

Let’s start with a main dish – Tofu Nut Loaf!

by Linda Virden

And serve with a baked sweet potato and asparagus – delicious!!

——————————————————————————————————-

Ready for dessert? Here’s one that uses up those leftover candy canes from Christmas.  Candy Cane Cookies

by Mike Krejci

Preheat oven to 375 F

Blend the sugars and butter until soft and creamy.

Mix the extracts and egg into the butter and sugar mixture until thoroughly mixed

Mix the dry ingredients into the previous mix until well mixed and firm.

Crush candy canes – about 1/2 – 1 cup crushed. I break mine up in a food processor, though it makes a lot of dust too.

Mix the candy cane pieces into the dough. If there is a lot of powder this may make the dough dry, so add a tiny amount of water if needed.

Lay parchment paper over cookie sheets and roll out balls of cookie dough, I do roughly 1 inch balls, you can do more or less depending on the size of the cookie you want. Keep the balls far apart as they will spread a lot.

Press the balls flat and

then put in the oven for 9-11 minutes, until golden brown. Longer if you like them really crispy, shorter if you want them softer.

Allow the cookies to fully cool on the sheets before transferring them off or the will fall apart

© Copyright 2023 The Mike Krejci

Here are the recipes:

5 from 4 votes

Print

Tofu Nuit Loaf

A simple and delicious vegan meal.

Course: lunch, Main Course, main dish

Cuisine: vegan

Keyword: flaxseed, nutritional yeast, tofu, walnuts

Servings: 6 Servings

Author: Linda Virden

Ingredients

• 1 pound firm tofu, mashed
• 3 Tablespoons ground flaxseeds
• 1/3 cup fresh parsley, minced
• 1 cup walnets, chopped fine
• 1 Tablespoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2-3 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 2-3 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 2 teaspoons dijon mustard
• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2. Mix all the ingredients together

3. Press the mixture into an oiled loaf pan

4. Bake for one hour, or until the edges are browned

5. Let it cool for at least 15 minutes

6. Top with barbecue sauce or ketchup

Recipe Notes

 

© Copyright 2023 Linda Virden

5 from 4 votes

Print

Candy Cane Cookies

Delicious peppermint cookies - a great way to use up those leftover candy canes!

Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: cookies

Keyword: candy cane, peppermint

Servings: 2.5 dozen

Author: Mike Krejci

Ingredients

• 1-1/4 cups white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 1 large egg
• 2-1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 F

2. Blend the sugars and butter until soft and creamy.

3. Mix the extracts and egg into the butter and sugar mixture until thoroughly mixed

4. Mix the dry ingredients into the previous mix until well mixed and firm.

5. Crush candy canes - about 1/2 - 1 cup crushed. I break mine up in a food processor, though it makes a lot of dust too.

6. Mix the candy cane pieces into the dough. If there is a lot of powder this may make the dough dry, so add a tiny amount of water if needed.

7. Lay parchment paper over cookie sheets and roll out balls of cookie dough, I do roughly 1 inch balls, you can do more or less depending on the size of the cookie you want. Keep the balls far apart as they will spread a lot.

8. Press the balls flat and then put in the oven for 9-11 minutes, until golden brown. Longer if you like them really crispy, shorter if you want them softer.

9. Allow the cookies to fully cool on the sheets before transferring them off or the will fall apart

Recipe Notes

 

© Copyright 2023 Mike Krejci