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I had SO much fun on The Late Live Show this month – and I even stayed up past midnight! These guys are hilarious – on my list of the greatest things ever this clip comes right after my kid, for real.

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photo by Sean Dorgan

I just got home from the Sustainable Foods Summit in San Francisco and I’m scooting off to the Social Media Strategies Summit in Las Vegas in a few days but I did manage to squeeze some fun into my few days at home.

Since Morrissey canceled on us again (get well soon, Moz!) I spent Saturday morning shooting photos for my book with Sean Dorgan. The morning started out disastrously - I won’t get into it, but let’s just say six dozen cupcakes down the drain – but I had Melisser from Cruelty-Free Face on hand to do my make up, Tressa Slater from Salon Tress fixin’ my hair and a certain international playgirl standing by to snap Instagram photos of the whole thing – so how could I lose?

The next day, after a late night of vegan eats at Karyn’s on Green, I braved the sleet and snow to pop into my friend Chris‘ podcast, The Deep End. We took some questions from listeners and gabbed about friendship, dating, and how blow jobs are similar to my favorite Thai dish. (For serious!) Anyway, if you care to listen you can download the episode right here.

If you decide to listen in, come back here and let me know what you thought. I have a few items to give away courtesy of the deadXstop publishing corporation, I think you might like ‘em.

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A few weeks ago I had an opportunity to sit down with Marty DeRosa of Creative Has Nothing For You, $5 Wrestling and, of course, Wrestling With Depression. I’d just listened to his interview with Colt Cabana, so I knew I was in for some serious self-reflection. We talked about growing up weird, coping with death, and why all pro-wrestlers should stop body sculpting and start being more like Arn Anderson.

You can listen to my interview on Wrestling With Depression.

I also know it’s been a while since I posted a new recipe, and I do apologize for that. I’m hard at work on Bake and Destroy: Good Food for Bad Vegans and that’s been distracting me from the blog. But I have two pieces of good news for you: One, my photographer for the book is Celine Steen of Have Cake, Will Travel. Her photography is gorgeous and I’m honored to have her not just photographing, but actually cooking my recipes and styling them as well! And two, I’m going to post a new recipe right now!

Celine is working on some shots this week, and last night we were laughing that kale chips are just ugly, there’s no getting around it. So while you probably won’t find any shots of them in my book, you will find several recipes for making them so good you’ll forget all about Doritos. (Well… maybe.) So please accept this recipe as an apology for neglecting you. I promise it will be worth it when the book comes out!

Vaguely Asian Kale Chips

By BakeandDestroy Published: October 30, 2012

• Yield: 6 Servings
• Prep: 15 mins
• Cook: 30 mins
• Ready In: 45 mins

If you're new to kale chips, this recipe is a great place to start - lots of flavor so even die-hard green vegetable haters will give them a try. If you can’t eat the whole pile in one shot store them loosely covered on your countertop to keep them crunchy for a few days. (As I said, kale chips aren't photogenic, so please enjoy this picture of Arn Anderson.)

Ingredients

• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp lemon pepper
• 1 lb kale washed & stemmed
• 1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 Tbs sesame oil
• 1/2 Tbs lime juice
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1/2 inch slice fresh ginger peeled & minced
• 2 Tbs sesame seeds

Instructions

1. Wash your kale, then tear out the stems and rip into bite-sized pieces (about the size of a potato chip). Allow the clean kale to dry completely.
   
2. Heat your oven to 200 degrees F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpats. In a small bowl combine chili powder and lemon pepper and set aside. Toss kale with vinegar, oil and lime juice, then gradually add the dry spice mix. Make sure each leaf is coated in spices. Add garlic, ginger and sesame seeds, and give it a quick stir to evenly distribute.
   
3. Spread the kale in a single layer on lined baking sheets - you might need to scrape some ginger and garlic pieces from the bottom of the bowl. Place the kale in the oven, and prop the door open - bake for 10 minutes, and check on the progress. Rotate sheets if necessary. Keep baking in 10 minute increments until the kale is dry and crispy. 20-30 minutes.
   

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I recently had a chance to speak with the folks at Global Looking Glass, a magazine full of social commentary, interviews with movers and shakers and vegan eats galore. We talked about what heavy metal and pro-wrestling have to do with cooking and caking, and I got a chance to talk about my cookbook. You can download the whole issue here, my interview is on page 36 and there’s also a vegan whoopie pie recipe from me elsewhere in the magazine!

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Here’s a picture of me with a pizza face. So now you’ve seen that.

I recently had the pleasure of being a guest on Notes and Bolts, a podcast about creative folks in Chicago. Melissa and Kriss welcomed me into their home – which doubles as an 80′s toy emporium, record store, zine library and antique cookbook museum – and there, surrounded by three chill kitty cats (including a super cool one-eyed cat) we gabbed about music, the zombie apocalypse, food and other cool stuff.

I also got to pick out some of my favorite songs to share, so take a listen! Click here.

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Did you catch me on The Perfect 3 with Kelsey Nixon on The Cooking Channel? I showed her how to make yummy vegan cupcakes without any scary ingredients. All you need is stuff you probably already have in your kitchen – bananas, cinnamon, maple syrup and a few other things. If you missed the episode, you can check out my segment here:

Tune into The Cooking Channel to catch a re-run:

• August 19, 2012 10:00 AM
• August 21, 2012 11:30 AM
• August 22, 2012 5:30 PM
• August 24, 2012 4:00 PM
• August 25, 2012 10:00 AM

Want to see the video that landed me this sweet appearance? Check it out here!

Vegan Banana Bread French Toast Cupcakes

By BakeandDestroy Published: July 18, 2012

• Yield: 12 cupcakes (12 Servings)
• Prep: 10 mins
• Cook: 20 mins
• Ready In: 30 mins

Inspired by the breakfast special at Salt & Pepper Diner in Chicago, these cupcakes combine bananas, cinnamon, maple syrup and walnuts for a breakfasty treat any time of day.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup overripe banana mashed
• 1 & 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 2/3 cup rice or soy milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/2 cup walnuts toasted & chopped

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line pan with paper liners.
   
2. Toast walnuts in a 350 degree oven for just a few minutes – 4-5 should do the trick. Cool, then chop into small pieces.
   
3. Throw your mashed banana in a blender or or just smash it with a fork.
   
4. Sift the flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and sugar into a large bowl, mix well.
   
5. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the oil, soy or rice milk, vanilla, almond and mashed banana.
   
6. Stir or fold the wet ingredients into the dry. Small lumps are fine. Finally, add the walnuts, folding gently.
   
7. Fill liners 2/3 full. Bake 20-22 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool in pan on wire rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and cool completely before frosting.
   
8. To make the vegan maple buttercream frosting, beat together 2 cups confectioner's sugar, 6 Tbs (Earth Balance) margarine 6 Tbs non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening, 2 Tbs maple syrup, 1/2 tsp maple extract and a pinch of salt until light & fluffy.
   

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