And my surprise baking project was…

Birthday cake!  (Like my leftover Hanukkah candle?)

Today was my husband’s birthday – he’s 32 now!

How on Earth did I end up married to a 32 year old man?  Am I even old enough to be married???  When did that happen???

I was at a bit of a loss as for what to get him for his birthday.  The only thing he specifically mentioned that he wanted was a video game, which I didn’t want to get (video game = more sitting on the couch/floor and less DOING stuff).

So I racked my brain trying to think of something he would really like… and I came up with a winner!

A bike!  Nothing amazing, just a basic bike.

He used to go and ride my bike along with me while I did my runs, but he was constantly complaining that 1) it didn’t fit him (absolutely true), and 2) the seat hurt his butt (which now, after doing 12 miles the other day, I TOTALLY agree – OW).  Plus, we only had the one bike, so we could never ride together.

When I was bringing it home today I was really nervous that he wouldn’t like it, but it worked out really well!

So happy!

So as soon as he had taken it for a short “test drive” around the parking lot, I laced up my running shoes, and we set out for a run/ride.  It had been ugly and rainy off and on all day, but it was gorgeous out for our little excursion.  Lucky!

Dinner tonight was an experiment that turned out quite delicious!

General Tao’s Tofu

(adapted from VegWeb/VegNews)

The only thing I did differently from the recipe (see VegWeb link above) was to use a flax egg instead of Ener-G egg replacer (which was how they wrote it in VegNews).  I really didn’t know how it was going to come out, since the “breading” seemed really messy.  But it was great!  My husband loved it and we will definitely be making it again.  Next time I’ll make sure the oil is super hot before putting the breaded tofu into it, because it seemed to lose some of it’s coating this time.  We think the oil just wasn’t hot enough.

Overall, a great recipe!  The sauce was delicious!  I think the leftovers are going to be my lunch tomorrow…

Dessert was cake, of course.  But we also had some nondairy ice cream – I had to convince him that 1) it DID exist, and 2) it was good!

Chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting along with SO Delicious Chocolate Peanut Butter nondairy ice cream.

I finally went downstairs and grabbed the recipe for the cake!  It’s easy and wonderful, and has been a staple in our group of friends for many years.  Good stuff!

Chocolate Cake with PB Frosting (aka: HEAAAAAAAVEN!)

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2 2/3 cups flour
  • 2/3 cup cocoa
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp baking soda dissolved in 1 cup hot water
  • 2/3 cup oil
  • 2 tsp vinegar
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 2 tsp mint extract (optional – if you want a chocolate mint cake, which is totally amazing too)
  1. In a large bowl, combine sugar, flour, cocoa, and salt.  Set aside
  2. In separate bowl, combine baking soda + water mix, oil, vinegar, and vanilla.
  3. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix.
  4. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

For frosting:

  • Powdered sugar
  • Nondairy milk (I used almond)
  • Earth Balance
  • Peanut butter

No measurements here, just combine ingredients to taste and until you get the texture you want.

For regular white frosting, omit the peanut butter.