by : Reiko Breakfast, Vegan, Vegetarian

Pumpkin Chai Spice Waffles
パンプキンチャイスパイスワッフル

Making something with pumpkin is almost a must in this season.

There are pumpkin-something everywhere, from pumpkin flavored coffee, pumpkin scented candles, to actual pumpkins.

So I decided to make pumpkin chai spice waffles for the weekend breakfast, trying to keep up with seasonal trend.

I cooked Kabocha squash/pumpkin myself, mashed it, and added to my waffle batter.

The flour ratio is 2 (all-purpose flour): 1(whole wheat flour).

I try to use whole wheat flour whenever I can.

I love our waffle maker.

It’s heavy and so well made and it makes great waffles every single time.

Beautiful, isn’t it?

These pumpkin chai spice waffles were served with homemade vegan butter, maple syrup, and dried cranberries.

We have bags of dried cranberries and I’m always trying to find ways to use them.

It’s one of the things that when I see at a store, I feel like I should get a bag because I can never remember if we still have some in the house or not.

As I usually cannot remember and it’s something I don’t want to be out of, I end up buying a bag and come home only to find that we already have multiple bags!

These waffles were DELICIOUS!!

I will definitely make these many many more times during this fall season.

And of course I had home-cold-brewed coffee to go with the waffles.

Pumpkin Chai Spice Waffles makes about 8 waffles

2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds
4 tablespoons water
1 cup cooked and mashed Kabocha squash
1/4 cup sugar
a pinch salt
1 and 2/3 cup soy milk
4 tablespoons canola oil
spices (ground cardamom, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cloves, ground allspice, ground coriander, ground black pepper)
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3 teaspoon baking powder

1. Combine all the ingredients.
2. Cook in waffle iron.

by : Reiko Bread, Sandwich, Vegan, Vegetarian

Edamame Hummus Bagel Sandwich
枝豆ペーストベーグルサンド

When I bake bagels, I want to make sandwiches with them.

I don’t know why, because it’s not always the case with any bread.

I made this edamame hummus for a potluck lunch at work.

Since I liked it so much that I didn’t take all of it to work, and I kept some for home.

On the edamame hummus spread, I placed cucumber and radish slices and a few basil leaves.

And then I sprinkled some salt.

Keep it simple.

Drizzle a little olive salad; I like the one from Costco (I often use it as “dressing” for my salad).

It made a beautiful lunch plate!

Simple, fresh, and delicious.

This is definitely my kind of sandwich.

I don’t have many plates that feature a work of art like this.

I usually stay away from these plates, because as beautiful as they are, they are not the best when food is placed on.

After all, plates to me are the background which I expect to enhance the look of my food.

But for some reason when I saw these plates at a store I fell in love with them and I had to bring them home, even though I knew I probably would not use them much particularly for my blog photos.

They are designed by Rob Ryan, who is a British artist specializing in paper-cutting and screen-printing, according to wikipedia.

I thought this particular sandwich would look good on this plate, as the nature themes are kind of matching in a way.

I didn’t think much when I put the sandwich on the plate, but because of where the sandwich was placed, it looks almost like representing the tree top.

Have a great weekend everyone!!