Being Thankful Everyday
Happy post Thanksgiving everyone. Hope all of you had a thankful and bountiful celebration. I know I did, but I am feeling a bit sluggish from that savory feast. In addition to the lovely holiday meal, we all know Thanksgiving is about being thankful for what we have. In difficult times, that can be challenging, but we can always find reasons to feel gratitude.
One of my favorite quotes about gratitude is by poet and philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche.
“The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude.”
Your life is a work of art and the essence of a beautiful existence is gratitude. When we are consciously aware of our blessings and are grateful for them, we are focusing more clearly on what we need in our lives. Studies on gratitude have shown that maintaining a grateful attitude positively affects our physical, emotional and mental well being. It also showed that people who practice gratitude are more optimistic than those who do not. Other scientific studies link daily gratitude with improved sleep, better productivity and improved relationships.
What are you grateful for? For myself it is art, nature, my health and most importantly, the love of my family and friends.
So, no matter what life brings you, I hope you live each day in gratitude and enjoy the abundance that follows. Now, on to food.
As promised, here is my recipe for red velvet cupcakes. They were rich, moist and yummy. I topped them with a sweet buttercream frosting. You could also do a more traditional vegan cream cheese frosting. Hope you enjoy them as much as we did.
Vegan Day 565 – wish me luck.
Red Velvet Cupcake Recipe
- 1 cup soymilk
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ⅓ cup canola oil
- 2 tablespoons red food coloring
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract (optional)
- 1 teaspoon chocolate extract (optional)
- ½ cup Earth Balance Butter, at room temperature (or other non-dairy butter)
- 3 cups confectioners' sugar
- 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons nondairy milk (I used almond)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pans with liners.
- Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar and set aside to curdle.
- Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl and mix.
- Add the oil, food coloring, chocolate extract, Vanilla extract and almond extract to the curdled soy milk. Whisk well to combine.
- Make well in center of dry ingredients and gently fold wet ingredients into dry, mixing until large lumps disappear.
- Do not over mix, or cupcakes will turn out gummy - small lumps are okay.
- Fill cupcake liners about three-quarters full as these cupcakes will rise fairly high.
- Place in hot oven and bake 18-20 minutes until done, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
- Cool cupcakes in the pan for five minutes, and then transfer to a cooling rack or surface to cool completely
- With an electric hand or stand mixer, cream butter until it is smooth and begins to fluff. With the mixer on low speed, add confectioners' sugar, vanilla and non-dairy milk. Fluff for another few minutes. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons more of milk to achieve the right consistency. Cover the icing to prevent it from drying out until ready to use. Rewhip before using.
Yummy. Going to add these to my Christmas baking repertoire. I am grateful for this recipe. Mucho Gracias Senorita!