In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort. It had a perfectly round door like a porthole, painted green, with a shiny yellow brass knob in the exact middle. The door opened on to a tube-shaped hall like a tunnel: a very comfortable tunnel without smoke, with panelled walls, and floors tiled and carpeted, provided with polished chairs, and lots and lots of pegs for hats and coats—the hobbit was fond of visitors. The tunnel wound on and on, going fairly but not quite straight into the side of the hill—The Hill, as all the people for many miles round called it—and many little round doors opened out of it, first on one side and then on another.

Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto Pasta

Ingredients:

• Desired amount/type of pasta (I use fusilli)
• 1 cup of mushroom/vegetable broth
• 3 tablespoons of (vegan) cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons of sun-dried tomato pesto
• 1 can of butter beans, drained
• Desired amount of white onion
• Desired amount of garlic
• White button mushrooms
• Tofu / Halloumi cheese / other preferred protein
• 1/4th cup of milk / coconut milk to thicken
• 1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast
• A handful of soft cheese (optional)

Instructions:

1. Prepare pasta according to package instructions.
2. In the meantime: chop the onions, garlic, mushrooms, and tofu. Drain the beans.
3. Set stove to low-medium heat
4. Add the broth, beans, onion, garlic, mushrooms, and tofu to frying pan to cook. The broth should keep any ingredients from burning while still cooking them.
5. When the onions are translucent, add the cream cheese to melt, then the milk, sun-dried tomato pesto, pasta, and nutritional yeast. Stir very well.
6. Serve, add the soft cheese to melt when serving (optional).

Halloumi Cheese & Quinoa

Ingredients:

• A package of halloumi cheese, the star of the show
• 1/2 cup of quinoa (I use a 3-quinoa blend)
• 1/2 cup of vegetable/mushroom broth
• 1 bell pepper
• Lemon juice to taste
• 1 small red onion
• Other additions as desired, such as drained butter beans, mushrooms, and/or cherry tomatoes

* Some quinoa recipes call for 1 cup of broth, but I found the result to be too salty when combined with the halloumi, so I've watered down the broth here.

Instructions:

1. Add the quinoa to the broth + 1/2 cup of water (1 cup of liquid total)
2. In the meantime: chop the halloumi cheese (to desired size), bell pepper, red onion, and other additions as needed.
3. Set stove to low-medium heat.
4. Add the halloumi cheese, followed by the bell pepper, red onion, and other additions. The liquid from the cheese and bell pepper make take a while to evaporate.
5. Stir to make sure the cheese is browned on both sides.
6. When halloumi cheese is lightly browned on both sides and bell pepper is softer, it should be ready.
7. Add in the quinoa and lemon juice.

* For me, the cheese and bell pepper gives off so much liquid that I don't bother adding oil, but you may need to add vegetable oil if your pan is non-stick/etc.

Honey Babka

Ingredients:

• 3 large eggs
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 cup honey (wild flower, or clover, not buckwheat)
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon, ground
• 1/4 tsp allspice, ground
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• chopped nuts (optional

** This recipe can easily be changed to Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free. Simply replace the all-purpose flour and sour cream with suitable alternatives at a 1:1 ratio. The eggs can also be replaced with substitutes; there still needs to be a binding agent here, however, so please use your best judgment.

Instructions:

1. Beat eggs and sugar until thick.
2. Add vegetable oil, honey, and sour cream.
3. Beat well.
4. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and allspice.
5. Gradually mix it into the liquids.
6. Add vanilla, and mix well.
7. Grease and flour a 9 x 13" sheet cake pan.
8. Preheat oven to 325 F.
9. Pour batter into the pan. Sprinkle nuts over top (optional).
10. Bake on the middle oven rack for 40 minutes.
11. Remove from the oven, and cool in pan for 10 minutes.

* This cake can also be made into a torte by cutting it into layers and filling it with buttercream/etc. Usually, I just serve it as a cake and skip the layering.

** Adding icing to the top of this cake is also an easy option here, of course.

*** For leftover, wrap in saran wrap/tin foil/what have you and keep refrigerated.

Pumpkin Spice Syrup

Ingredients:

• 1.5 tablespoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 teaspoons nutmeg
• 0.75 teaspoons ground allspice
• 0.75 teaspoons ground cloves
• 0.5 cup brown sugar
• 0.5 cup water

Instructions:

1. Thoroughly combine the spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves) together first!
2. Add 1 tablespoon of the spice mix, the brown sugar, and the water to a saucepan. Stir to combine.
3. Place the pan over medium heat, bring to a low boil until the sugar is melted.
4. Let cool. Then pour through a wire mesh strainer to filter out any remaining spices. Use a clean container that can be sealed (like a jar) for the syrup.

* The syrup can be refrigerated for up to 2 weeks. Add 1/2 tablespoon of syrup per 1 shot of espresso.

** My go-to method for the PSL has been to heat roughly 1/2 cup of oat milk in addition to 0.5 tablespoon of the syrup, then use a milk frother to make it foam and add it to my espresso.