I have long wanted to find a recipe for a creamy mushroom soup that's not loaded with margarine, because it tends to overpower the flavor of the mushrooms. I found this recipe, and after making a few tweaks I was able to reach the consistency and flavor I was looking for.

No, it's definitely not pretty. After blending the soup, it ended up a shade of grayish brown, but it definitely tastes good.

There are literally hundreds of types of garlic out there, from purple stripes and silverskins to artichokes—the type most commonly found in your local grocery store. Each has its own unique flavor and qualities, and my taste buds wish they could sample them all.

I am definitely one of those people who sees nothing wrong with letting the flavor of garlic dominate a dish. I often use so much raw garlic that I feel like a walking vampire repellent—you can call me Buffy II.

Every once in a while, I like to infuse my love of garlic with my love of good ol' fashioned comfort food, and a big bowl of creamy garlic Alfredo pasta fits the bill perfectly.

If you can find it, I recommend using a variety of garlic with a higher level of pungency, such as Chinese purple, to add even more heat to this spicy meal. The richness of the MimicCreme—a new vegan cream that can be used in place of soy milk—in this recipe will balance out the kick of the garlic nicely. Toss the Alfredo sauce with your favorite type of pasta, and enjoy the creamy, pungent, vampire-scaring, comforting goodness.

Hot Damn and Hell Yeah: Recipes for Hungry Banditos/The Dirty South Vegan Cookbook is quite an intriguing title for a cookbook. OK, it's actually two cookbooks in one. Details, details.

This has to be the bible of crunk vegan cuisine from the South. Both cookbooks—Hot Damn and Hell Yeah: Recipes for Hungry Banditos by Ryan Splint and The Dirty South Vegan Cookbook by Vanessa Doe—feature down-home recipes that are happily unhealthy and loaded with flavor.

The offerings range from "buttermilk" biscuits to Johnny cakes, from seitan dirty rice to fake fried chicken, and from turnip stew to onion "quiche." My friend Lindsay raves about the cookbook and "praises every day" the person who gave it to her. She supplied the photo here of biscuits and chunky white gravy. Yum.

Now, your queen of crunk—no, not Ciara, it's me—is giving you a chance to win a copy of the cookbook here! Just leave a comment about your favorite Southern vegan food—include a recipe if you'd like—and the best comment wins. It's that simple!

The contest ends on October 19, and the winner will be notified by October 26.

Just so you know…by giving us your details here, we're taking that as acknowledgment that you've read and agreed to our privacy policy. And by commenting, you are agreeing to the following terms and conditions.

First, you crumble chocolate cookies—I use Oreos—into a fine mess. Drizzle in just enough vegetable oil to bring the crumbs together.

Next, you melt an entire pound of chocolate until smooth, then blend with silken tofu and peppermint extract until creamy.

Finally, pour the creamy chocolate filling into the crispy cookie crust. Top with finely crumbled peppermint pieces and chill.

Thanks to the Tomato Head Restaurant, you'll have a peppermint pattie-like pie that is surprisingly flavorful with so few ingredients. One bite of this pie brought back memories of my mom enjoying her favorite sweet treat, the peppermint pattie. She says they remind her of Christmas—her favorite holiday—and that's why she likes them so much.

Regardless of her good reasons, as a child I had to hate peppermint patties because she loved them—that is, until I was old enough to know better. How could a kid have the same favorite candy as her mother? That just wouldn't be cool. Now that I've seen the light, in the form of the chocolate-mint combo, I enjoy vegan peppermint patties, peppermint pies, minty-chocolate cakes—you name it, I like it. Mom would be so pleased.

After I posted my September 14 entry, Pickling: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, artist Carmelle Safdie contacted me to say that the good definitely outweighs the bad and the ugly.

She was kind enough to share her flavorful recipes for Indian pickled radishes, pickled carrot sticks, salt-brined dill green beans, and pickled eggplant slices—which she says are great served on crackers or toast—as well as share a few photographs.

After reading her recipes, it became immediately clear that these pickled gems would be very different than the Kool-Aid pickle I encountered a while back. And yes, by different I mean much, much better and edible. I can't wait to try them. Thanks, Carmelle!

Can you guess which sandwich is the happiest on Earth? OK, I'll just tell you because I'm impatient—it's vegan grilled cheese!

We're not talking about a wimpy sandwich made with strange cheese slices that come wrapped in pieces of plastic—no way. We're talking about using the gourmet stuff, Sheese, which comes in nine flavors of hard vegan cheese and five flavors of creamy vegan cheese.

The combination of bread and cheese dates back to ancient Roman times, but for my gourmet grilled cheese, I put a modern twist on the combination by using vegan mozzarella. I then layered the cheese with roasted red peppers and sautéed red onion slices and used grilled ciabatta bread smothered with Earth Balance. The happiest sandwich on Earth led to the happiest stomach on Earth—mine.

There is something about fresh apples that brings me back to my childhood. When visiting my grandparents each fall, we would pack ourselves into the car and head to the cider mill for apple picking, fresh doughnuts, cider, and homemade applesauce. We would dip our doughnuts into the applesauce, and as silly as it sounds, to this day I still think that a doughnut eaten without applesauce just isn't a proper doughnut. By the end of the day, we were nearly drunk off apples.

Now that I have oh-so-refined tastes, I like to enjoy freshly picked apples in a rustic tart—and I always use the leftover apples for applesauce. This way, I get to enjoy all the elements that I enjoyed on our cider mill trips—the apples, the pastry, the spices, the sugar—rolled into one. So maybe my tastes aren't as refined; maybe I'm just more resourceful.

Hoodie weather is back, and that means it's time for warm, hearty food. In the South, the last thing you want to eat during the summer months is a soup or stew, which is probably the same temperature as the humidity-filled air.

Fall is the perfect time to bust out these brothy or creamy creations—and not fear that one bite may contribute to heatstroke. It also just happens to be when many root vegetables are in peak season. Hmm…

A root vegetable stew is both comforting and filling, and the recipe I found also happens to be a healthy, low-fat version. It only contains a small amount of oil and margarine—the rest is just stock, herbs, and vegetables.

So this fall, "how you gonna kick it? Gonna kick it root down." A little Friday afternoon Beastie Boys for you. Enjoy.

Anytime I taste a tropical flavor, I think of my elementary school years, when I would sing along to the Cocktail soundtrack on my Walkman. If I taste macadamia nuts, I think of the film's setting in the Caribbean. If I taste coconut, I think of "Kokomo" by the Beach Boys, one of my favorite songs from the film. The connections are unstoppable—and possibly made worse by the fact that I still own, and listen to, the soundtrack.

With the days getting cooler, I decided this would be the perfect time to bust out Tropical Banana Muffins, a.k.a. "Cocktail" Muffins, to bring me back to a beachy setting. Nothing warms up the house more then the smell of fresh baked goods, right out of the oven. Especially when they have a tropical twist: coconut, macadamia, and banana.

Try mixing in all the coconut for more texture, or top the muffins with 1/4 cup of the coconut. Both versions are delicious.

And while I have your attention, this Thursday, October 18, VegCooking will host its first-ever guest blogger, Almost Vegetarian! The popular food blogger will share her thoughts on, well, being almost vegetarian and what it's like to have a family who's along for the ride. I've had a little sneak peek at the post, and I hope all of you will love it as much as I did! Almost every vegetarian, or vegetarian in the making, out there will certainly be able to relate.

So don't miss it this Thursday!

After reading the wonderful entry sent to me by the blogger over at Almost Vegetarian, I decided that I can't wait until tomorrow to post this guest blog. Instead, I'm going to treat all of you to half the post today, then the second half tomorrow.

Without further ado…

The Vegetarian and the Meat-Eater, Part 1

By Almost Vegetarian

Let me introduce you to my husband. No. Wait. Let me introduce you to his mother (you want to know the man, know the mother).

The first time my mother-in-law invited me to dinner, my husband told her I, good vegetarian that I am, did not eat meat.

She thought. She hemmed. She hawed. Then, in her broken English, she solved the puzzle as only she knew how. "That's okay," she said. "I'll make veal."

Can you see why my husband was a meat 'n' potatoes guy? And can you also see why his meat 'n' potatoes diet and my vegetarian diet did not make a match made for dietary bliss?

Fast forward five years to today. His breakfast is, more often than not, cereal and espresso. Or toast and cheese and an avocado or two. Or leftovers from dinner. Lunch is still almost always deli meat. But never a hamburger. And sometimes a nice piece of fruit or a salad to go with his sandwich.

And dinner at home is always vegetarian. A French kale and Gruyère casserole. Tacos with TVP and tomatoes and lettuce and beans. Curried vegetables and tofu with chutney and rice. Heirloom tomatoes with basil and olive bread.

(Sure, outside the house, there is the occasional Chinese or Indian or even, heaven help us, hamburger meal. But, every time, he is ordering more and more vegetable dishes and less and less meat dishes.)

So how did we get from there to here? Slowly. Very, very slowly. To be continued…

Be sure to check back tomorrow to read Almost Vegetarian's five steps to help you and your family make the transition to a vegetarian diet—even the meat 'n' potatoes husband.

Yesterday, we were treated to the first half of the guest post "The Vegetarian and the Meat-Eater," by Almost Vegetarian. And as I promised, now for part two…

The Vegetarian and the Meat-Eater, Part 2

By Almost Vegetarian

Here are the steps I have taken so far to help my meat 'n' potatoes husband become more vegetarian. We still have a long way to go. But, oh baby, we have already come a long, long way.

1. First, I cut down a bit on the meat, using it more as a condiment in, say, a stir-fry, than as the main item on the plate. At first, one night a week. Then two. Then three or more.

2. Next, I started to make the occasional meal without meat. Something hearty, like a spinach lasagna, for example, so the meat would not be missed. And, as in the first step, this was very gradual. Maybe once a week. Then twice. Then, well, you get the picture.

3. I emphasized foods he loved. For example, he adores mushrooms and olives so when I made pizza, I put on lots of mushrooms and olives instead of pepperoni. He also adores spicy foods. Hence why I concocted the curried tofu dish that is now a favorite in our home.

4. I educate. Picture us, sprawled on the couch, late at night. He is playing on his computer. I am reading a book or a newspaper. Occasionally, I share some interesting tidbit. Such as what an insidious nightmare high fructose corn syrup is. Or the definition for certified organic. Or a new study on the horrors of meat. Nothing much, just interesting little facts that, over the years, add up to a wealth of information for him (and me).

5. I don't give him grief. I want to be the carrot, not the stick, so when he has a salami sandwich, I don't tell him what is in it. But when he invents a TVP sandwich, I tell him how wonderful it (and he) is.

And is it working?

We sold our barbecue at a garage sale this summer. Last week, we talked about Thanksgiving and decided we would pass on the turkey. And, today, my husband, the man who used to be a two-hamburger-a-day guy, told me he didn't feel so good after eating hamburgers any more.

And it just dawned on me that I haven't cooked any meat since the holidays. The 2006 holidays.

I figure, another five years and I'll have him off those deli meat sandwiches. Then, hey, maybe we can try for vegan. And, after we achieve that milestone, assuming I have the strength, I'll start on his mother. I'm thinking anything is possible!

Are you stuck in a deli slices or PB&J rut when it comes to lunchtime sandwiches? Let's shake it up a bit. After all, it is Friday.

I recently stumbled upon an interesting sandwich recipe on Epicurious.com that uses sweet potato as the main filling. I was intrigued.

After making a few alterations to veganize, I found myself with a healthy and easy-to-prepare lunch. But I was curious—where did this sandwich come from? Sweet potatoes on bread is a combo I've never heard of, and I was curious if this is a common meal. I was raised in a family where sweet potatoes were either candied or whipped—that's it.

After a few minutes of Internet research, I found only the recipe below and one for a sweet potato and pineapple sandwich, but I'm convinced there must be more. Does anyone out there have more info on the use of sweet potatoes in a sandwich? Anyone?