The Inquisitive Skink

©October 2025  Donna Storm Today's recipe page :  https://monogr.ph/68fe91ec48a6fa66dc8e59be Found out about Shawarma Seasoning today. https://therecipecritic.com/shawarma-seasoning/#wprm-recipe-container-171965 Started the hunt because of this recipe: https://youtu.be/qEu2VHpTt58 which led to this recipe: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/759520233-crispy-tofu-shawarma?unlocked_article_code=1.1V0.cmJG.GnWTkxxoCdCV I think I will try this out soon, red lentils are cheap and tasty: https://plantbasedcookingshow.com/2024/04/14/vegan-red-lentil-dinner-rolls/ Thanksgiving seasoning I was looking at a seasoning mix that was similar to poultry seasoning but with a brighter flavor, and  Trader Joe's Everything But the Leftovers Seasoning Blend  was highly recommended, but it was $11.90 for just a 2.6 oz bottle, and ended up looking at Bell's All Natural Seasoning at almost $4 per oz (not much cheaper but it is a smidgen cheaper).  https://www.famousfoods.com/bealse1o...

Mark has become great at making soup. Tonight we enjoyed a cabbage cauliflower soup with skillet cornbread biscuits that I hope to make more often. They were super easy, and especially good with a little bit of maple syrup. Vegan of course. Skillet Cornbread Biscuits - Vegan Makes 12 biscuits Ingredients 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour 1 cup cornmeal 1 Tbsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 1/3 cup vegan butter (I use Earth Balance) or coconut oil - kept cold 1 cup almond milk 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar Stir together all of the dry ingredients. It is best to sift the baking powder and baking soda through a wire sieve if they are clumpy. Start an iron skillet on medium low heat. I used the skillet we had sauteed vegetables for the soup and only barely cleaned it out. It should have a sheen of oil. Chop up the shortening of your choice into tiny cubes.  Use a pastry blender to cut the shortening into the dry mix. It should be pebbly. Mix togethe...

I have been meaning to write about making my oatmeal yogurt for a while.  I am so happy to have discovered it.  I first read about making this in The Vibrant Table, Recipes from My Always Vegetarian, Mostly Vegan & Sometimes Raw Kitchen .  The title of this book grabbed me, as I have been vegetarian since 1975, am mostly vegan – but refuse to be religious about it – and raw foods is how I naturally eat for more than half the day.  Author Anya Kassoff has a talent I look for in cookbook writers….she tells a story while explaining her craft.  Kassoff states that she requires a high-speed blender.  Even though my blender is sort of sucky in its well-used old age, it has worked out fine here. I'm trying to squeeze all the life I can out of it before it gets replaced.  Kassoff's recipe calls for 1 cup of oat groats, 1 cup of rolled oats and ½ cup of Brazil nuts.  I didn't have oat groats on hand and substituted 1 cup of steel cut oats the firs...

About a year or so ago a wonderfully talented cook, Madelyn Hood, served Mark and I a wonderful dish of stuffed shells that had a delicious winter squash filling. She has since that time talked to me about a small catering she provided where the main dish was once again a pasta dish using winter squash (or was it pumpkin?). So I've thought about creating a pasta dish with winter squash for a while now. My family spreads Thanksgiving out over the entire long weekend. Didn't make it to Madison this year (though I managed to deliver a Bavarian Apple Torte and a Blackberry Pie to them) but we still had our small family gathering at home Thanksgiving Day, and then one with Mark's family at a gathering at his sister's in Indy on Saturday. I had made some Brie with caramelized onion fondue for day-long nibbling while dinner was made on Thanksgiving day. The following day I kept working on creating a recipe for a new lasagna for the Saturday gathering and decided to combine...