Space Cakes

Ok - here is my first attempt at vegan blogging. I, like many others, am getting excited about Vegan Cupcakes Take over the World - but I wanted a cupcake RIGHT NOW, damnit! So...since I already made the VwaV Lemon Gem's last week I needed something new. Hence the Space Cakes. In an extreme act of improvisation, I took the Lemon Gem recipe and took out all the lemon parts and added extra vanilla - making it a vanilla cupcake. I then took some blackberry syrup that I made from blackberries picked from my grandfathers garden and swirled it into the tops of the batter.
I then attempted to make a blackberry icing that was buttery-creamish in it's taste...It was pretty but tasted too much like shortening for my taste. So I made a second topping which was basically an orange blackberry glaze - not as pretty but much more yummy!
I'm pretty happy with how the cupcake turned out...it was light, fluffy with a fruity blackberry streak running through it, but I think I'll stick with a glaze to top these next time. My husband said the swirls made the cupcakes look like little spaceships, so I've christened them Space Cakes.

Cheese is my downfall...

Ok, I'll admit it. I love cheese - not in large quantities or anything (I'm slightly lactose intolerant), but it does make a nice addition to black bean nachos or on top of pizza. I think if it was not for cheese and sour cream that the transition to veganism would be much smoother for me. I convinced the husband to give up dairy milk about 6 mts ago (Silk Plain is now our staple)and I always use margarine...and I like soy ice cream. But cheese...maybe it's the fact that I have not found a good vegan cheese (any suggestions?) or sour cream. But I view my transition to veganism as a gradual one, so I'm committed to phasing these things out of my diet...eventually. Any tips on how other people overcame this would be much appreciated!

As this is my first foray into blogging I'm not quite sure what to write or who will be reading (if anyone). After doing quite a bit of lurking on other people's blogs - with vegetarian food blogs and living-abroad blogs being my favorite ones - I've decided to start my own. Why? I suppose, like many others, I feel the need for a creative outlet. I have learned quite a bit from blogs, from recipe's to gossip to new books to read. I hope, in my small way, that I can attempt to offer the same.
A little bit about me. As the title of my blog indicates, I am a sci-fi loving vegan. Although the vegan part is somewhat of a misnomer - I am trying to be a vegan. I have been vegetarian for six years and have decided over the course of the past six months that I would like to phase most eggs and dairy out of my diet (I owe part of this change to some of the fantastic foods I have seen prepared on vegan blogs). So part of this blog will serve to document my attempts at new vegan cooking, restaurants that I like and my somewhat regular lapses into plain ol' lacto-ovo vegetarianism.
I love science fiction, yes I am a geek and proud of it. I have been an avid science fiction reader for the past 12 years and I average about one book a week....look for some reviews of some of the most notable books I have read. I also read other books, just not as often as sci-fi. I dream of some day writing a novel - but I think that the inspiration is still years ahead of me.
I live in Norman, Oklahoma - the home of the University of Oklahoma. I have lived here for the past 5 years. I moved here for grad school (anthropology and psychology) and now work full time at the university as a lab manager. It is an interesting job and I love academia - but I hope to work as a academic librarian within the next couple of years - I am currently working on a MLIS degree part time and hope to finish within 3 or 4 semesters. So you will probably see some library blogging as well. What can I say, I'm a bookworm.
I've been married to wonderful man, Micah, for almost one year. He is also a vegetarian (but not a vegan) and an excellent cook - so he may be posting some cooking related items as well.
That's it for now - let's see how this thing works!
B