By SHELLEY CHAPMAN

In addition to November being my birthday month, I have many reasons to love this time of year—particularly because of all the goodies I get to create and consume. Between Halloween treats, birthday dinners, Thanksgiving feasts, Christmas gatherings and New Year’s Eve galas, I often find myself in culinary heaven. In past years, my offerings have been confined to my friends and family, but these days, I share my creative foodisms with the world via NaturiBeauty Blog and MyBrownBaby guest posts, and so my inner creative food genius is demanding I. BRING. IT. And BROUGHT IT, I have, with this special recipe, the perfect compliment to winter chills, comforting warmth, and that lovely holiday spirit. I’ve combined the spice of cinnamon, the sweetness of brown sugar, and the comfort of candied yams and rolled it all up into a nice, spicy, rich November treat: Candied Yam Sticky Buns—vegan style. Dig it…

CANDIED YAM STICKY BUNS
WITH VEGAN CREAM CHEESE VANILLA GLAZE

Dough Ingredients
*1 15oz. can of candied yams/ 1/4 cup reserved liquid
**2.5 cups self-rising flour
4 TB caster sugar
4.5 TSP Ener-G Egg Replacer
3 TB warm water
8 TB melted vegan margarine
Pumpkin Spice
Cinnamon

Filling Ingredients
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 TB caster sugar
Generous dash of cinnamon

Glaze Ingredients
1/2 cup sifted powder sugar
2 TB vegan cream cheese, softened
1 TB vegan margarine, softened
about 2 TB boiling water
1 TSP vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS FOR DOUGH
1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees
2. Mash candied yams with pumpkin spice in separate bowl.
3. Add flour, sugar, salt, more pumpkin spice in large bowl
4. Mix yam mixture in two parts with flour mixture (it will be crumbly)
5. Mix Ener-G Egg Replacer with 3 TB warm water; add to yam flour
6. Mix melted butter with reserved liquid from canned yams; add to flour mix in three parts as you continually mix dough.
7. Once it resembles dough, shape into a ball
8. Flour clean, flat surface and rolling pin; roll dough into an oblong shape or rectangle about 1/2 inch thick & about 10-12 inches wide

FILLING DIRECTIONS
9. Mix brown sugar, caster sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle/spread evenly on rolled dough.

ROLLING DIRECTIONS
10. Start rolling form longest (length) side, careful not to break the dough, until completely rolled like a jelly roll.
11. Once rolled into a log, cut into eight even sections.
12. In an 8: cake pan, arrange pieces cut side up in a circle starting around the edge of pan and working toward the center.
13. Bake at 350 deg for 30-35 minutes.

GLAZE DIRECTIONS
14. Sift powdered sugar into bowl; make a well in the center.
15. Place cream cheese and butter in center.
16. Pour boiling water over the cream cheese and butter and stir to mix (add in more water if necessary), until glaze coats the back of the spoon.
17. Stir in vanilla.
18. Drizzle glaze over the rolls; serve warm or cold ( I like ‘em hot!) and ENJOY!

*If you prefer not to use reserved liquid, you may use 1/4 cup almond milk or soy milk (vanilla flavored is best)
**If you do not have self-rising flour, you may substitute 2.5 cups of all purpose flour with 1 TB of baking powder

About our MyBrownBaby contributor:
Shelley Chapman is a culinary artisan whose passion for “natural, from scratch, quality ingredient meals” led her to consult on meal preparation, planning and holistic consumption as a personal chef for her company, Naturi Beauty Concepts. She offers private culinary services in the Atlanta area, specializing in Vegan and Vegetarian cuisine with a global influence. For more tasty vegetarian/vegan recipes, please visit Shelley at Naturi Beauty.

By SHELLEY CHAPMAN

October can be wishy washy: Some days it’s warm, some days it’s cool and some days it’s just plain cold. Fall is the time when we begin to slow down, plan for the months ahead and, if you’re like me, get your palate ready for warm, comforting winter dishes. I enjoy exotic tastes and experimenting with flavors, spices and textures that transport me to enchanting locales. Especially when it’s cold, windy, rainy and snowy outside, I like to picture myself in some place warm, in a loose fitting sun dress, sitting in an outdoor cafe with my handsome partner and some serious culinary throwdown on my plate. *giggle*

To transport myself in this cool October month, I decided to visit Greece and enjoy warm, savory Mediterranean flavors. With the help of a fanciful cookbook I picked up in London, I co-created a Roasted Veggie Moussaka. Traditional Moussaka is made with lamb and eggplant in a rich creamy sauce. However this vegetarian version features oven-roasted eggplant, red bell pepper, portabella mushrooms and red onion in a blend of tomato sauce with savory herbs, topped with a feta cheese and yogurt cream. This season, don’t let cold weather keep you in. Your palate will open a world of flavors. Journey with me.

ROASTED VEGGIE MOUSSAKA

Ingredients
1 lrg eggplant, thickly sliced
2 med zucchinis, thickly sliced
2 red onions, cut into small wedges
2 red bell peppers, cored, deseeded, chopped roughly
2 garlic cloves, chopped roughly
5 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
Salt/Pepper
2 eggs beaten
14 oz. canned diced tomatoes in juice
10 oz authentic Greek Yogurt (I like Fage brand)
2 oz. authentic Greek Feta Cheese

To Cook
1. Place eggplants, zucchinis, onions, peppers and garlic in a roasting pan/casserole dish. Drizzle with olive oil, toss together, then sprinkle with thyme, salt and pepper.
2. Roast in preheated oven at 425 deg for 30-35 min. Turn pan halfway through cooking and roast until golden brown and tender. (Note: veggies will reduce by half)
3. Meanwhile, beat eggs, yogurt, salt and pepper. When veggies are cooked, reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.
4. Transfer and put half the veggies in a layer in a large ovenproof dish/casserole dish.
5. Spoon over canned diced tomatoes with juice.
6. Add remaining veggies.
7. Pour over yogurt mixture and crumble over the feta cheese.
8. Bake in oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour until golden brown. Serve at any temperature.

About our MyBrownBaby contributor:
Shelley Chapman is a culinary artisan who has tended to her palate by traveling and dining at unique eateries and collecting recipes, tips and culinary stories for her own delight and nourishment. Her passion for “natural, from scratch, quality ingredient meals” led her to consult on meal preparation, planning and holistic consumption as a personal chef for her company, Naturi Beauty Concepts. She offers private culinary services in the Atlanta area, specializing in Vegan and Vegetarian cuisine with a global influence. For more tasty vegetarian/vegan recipes, please visit Shelley at Naturi Beauty.

By DENENE MILLNER
It seemed almost every weekend when I was little, my mom was taking us somewhere to visit with her best friends/church buddies/play sisters. While the kids splashed around in the pool or conjured up fantastic adventures in the basement, Mommy and her girlfriends played Pokeno for pennies and talked about church. Bible-thumpers they were, indeed.

A huge part of those get-togethers, of course, was the eating. My Auntie Tina always brought this butter pound cake that was so juicy and spongy it practically melted between your fingertips. My Auntie Sarah always had fried chicken and mustard greens on the stove, hot and sweet. Auntie Ragland’s specialty was black-eyed peas and, if we happened to be at her house on New Year’s, chitlins (she was one of the rare women in my mom’s life trusted enough to clean them properly). And my mom? A party wasn’t a party unless Bettye brought her famous macaroni and cheese, juicy and moist on the inside, a skooch crispy on top. Nobody, and I mean nobody, could touch my mother’s famed mac & cheese recipe. I mean, a few tried and all–would show up to Sunday dinners at St. John’s Baptist Church with their pitiful offerings. Alas, they were feeble, sorry attempts that could never compare to the delicacy my mother always seemed to whip up faster than you could say, “Let’s eat!”

I grew up watching my mother make her mac and cheese–started pitching in when I was nimble enough to grate the huge blocks of sharp cheddar cheese on her beat up grater. A few Thanksgivings before she passed away, I convinced her to give me lessons on some of her most prized recipes; she taught me how to make her homemade stuffing, her sweet potato pie, her southern lemon pound cake, the potato salad, and, the mother of all her recipes, THE mac & cheese. It took me quite some time and a lot of practice to get it to taste like hers, but now my mac & cheese so closely resembles my mom’s that my dad is finally convinced I know what I’m doing. This is huge.

During my years of making the mac & cheese, I’ve added my own twist to it; I don’t grate anymore, now that Kroger and Publix have those handy bags of cheese already shredded. And while my mom used only three cheeses–sharp, mild, and American–I use up to 11 in my recipe, including asiago, monterey jack, mozzarella, parmesan, romano, and gouda, among others.

This macaroni and cheese is simply sumptuous—the secret is in the roux. Remember to take your time with the egg, butter, milk and flour mixture; get that right, and this will be the juiciest, cheesiest, yummiest macaroni and cheese you’ve ever tasted! Don’t forget to credit Bettye Millner, my beautiful mom.

For a 9 by 11-inch pan you’ll need:

1 ½ small boxes of Mueller’s macaroni elbows
4 eggs
2 cups of milk
2 bags of sharp cheddar cheese
2 bags of mild cheddar cheese
4 slices American white and yellow cheese
2 bags of assorted cheeses (like italian six cheese,
monterrey jack cheese, or mexican cheese)
1 stick of butter
about 3 tablespoons of flour
salt and pepper to taste

To cook:

1. Boil your macaroni until tender (put a little oil in the water so the elbows don’t stick.

2. Drain the macaroni, then put a layer of macaroni on the bottom of your pan. Then layer the cheese, then macaroni, then cheese. End with cheese.

3. Melt your butter in a pan on medium heat. While the butter is melting, mix your eggs in a large bowl, breaking the yolks. Add milk to the eggs, and put in a little salt and pepper to season; stir until it’s all mixed together.

4. After butter is melted, add the flour to the butter and mix so that the flour dissolves into the butter. It’ll be liquidy.

5. Pour in milk and egg mixture into the butter and flour mixture in the pan; whisk it until all of it is mixed together and the liquid gets a little thick. DO NOT LET IT GET SUPER THICK OR ELSE IT WON’T DRIP BETWEEN THE LAYERS.

6. Pour the egg/butter/milk mixture into the macaroni and cheese layers; the liquid should reach the top, but do not let it flood the top of the pan.

7. Cover pan with aluminum foil, and bake at 350 for about 40 minutes to an hour. You’ll know it’s close to finished when it’s bubbling. When it starts to bubble, take the aluminum foil off so that it can brown.

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